Aran's Daughter
by Lord Lycaon
Summary: She found her alone and crying. She took her in and trained her. Now she is her only hope for salvation.
1. Prologue

Planet Krawna. A mining world similar to my birthplace, K-2L. Here, they mine the large supply of Fuel Gel, which fuels the powerful Galactic Federation Starships. And again like K-2L, it had recently been assaulted by Space Pirates.

That was why I was here. The Federation had hired me to help in the search for any survivors. A fairly simple task, though it was made difficult by the near-endless supply of rubble and debris scattered around the devastated facility. I hefted up a large piece of wreckage with the enhanced strength granted to me by my Chozo Varia Suit. After finding nothing, I let the scrap drop with a heavy _thud_.

"Gear, remind again me why I agreed to this mission." I asked the automated computer installed in my gunship via comm-link.

"You said, quote, 'I really need the cash.'" Gear responded in a bored tone. Unlike most other ship AI programs, Gear had an entire personality that made it hard to call him an "it." He got on my nerves occasionally, with his constant sarcasm and the usual bored persona that came with his being a computer (staying in one place for too long tends to get dull), but he makes up for it by supplying me with info when necessary.

"Right," I replied when he answered. "Run another scan of the area. I want to be absolutely sure that there's nobody here before I leave someone behind."

"Just a moment," Gear said as he ran his scan. I looked around the area, scanning the field of debris with my eyes as I waited for Gear to finish his own scan. This place brought back a lot of bad memories of K-2L. My father dying in an explosion. My mother being incinerated right in front of me. I clenched my fist angrily. This was why the Pirates had to be eradicated. They kill and steal without a second thought, and even sacrifice each other for personal gain. "Found something." Gear's voice brought me back from memory lane.

"Where?"

"Off to your right, about fifteen meters away from your current position. But there's too much interference for me to determine what it is, so keep your guard up."

"Thank you." I headed in the specified direction, keeping an eye out for any signs of life. I stopped when I heard what sounded like a little girl crying. I turned in the direction of the sound and saw a relatively small, metal shed, probably for spare tools or weapons. As I approached the door, I suddenly heard a gunshot, and a bullet shell bounced of my armor, making me jump back in surprise.

I looked into the darkness of the shed, Arm Cannon at the ready, but was once again caught off guard by what I found. Inside the shed was little girl, who couldn't have been any older than six years. In her tiny hands was a handgun, whose barrel was smoking slightly. The young girl held a look of fear in her eyes. She probably thought that I was going to hurt her.

"That little girl is the life form I detected," Gear confirmed. "Be careful. She doesn't seem completely stable right now." I sighed at that. I had pretty much figured that out when she shot at me.

Without stepping any closer, I knelt down outside the shed and said, "Don't worry. I won't hurt you. You can trust me."

"You're lying," the girl said in a serious tone that didn't sound natural to her. "You're one of those monsters that came and killed Mommy and Daddy, aren't you? Admit it!"

My eyes widened at this revelation. This girl was just like me: orphaned by the Space Pirates and rendered permanently suspicious of newcomers. I sighed sadly to myself and sent a mental command to my suit, ordering it to deactivate. Wearing nothing but the Zero Suit, my blue, skintight uniform, I held out my hand once again.

"See?" I said in a tone that I hoped was warm enough for her to trust. "I'm not a monster. I'm human, like you. I promise I won't hurt you." The girl seemed hesitant to trust me, which was understandable, considering her situation. She slowly lowered the gun and stepped out of the shed's darkness and took my hand. She looked Japanese, a rare sight nowadays. She had dark hair that reached down to the middle of her back and hazel eyes, which looked bloodshot. Her cheeks were puffy and red, possibly from crying a lot.

"I'm Samus Aran," I said carefully. "What's your name?"

"Ayame," she said quietly, while looking as though she were ready to cry again. "My name is Ayame Miyamoto."

"Ayame," I parroted with a smile. "That's a pretty name." After a about a minute of no response, I stood up and put my hand on her shoulder. She looked at me worriedly. "Come on. There are soldiers here now. We'll protect you. There's nothing to be afraid of." She simply nodded and followed me closely.

-o-

"Hello, Samus." The Federation Trooper greeted me in the same way any other trooper would. He looked down at Ayame, who was hiding behind my leg. "Was this girl the only survivor that you could find?"

"Yes," I replied in the calm tone that I always used with Federation personnel. "I found her hiding in a storage shed. She seems pretty shaken up by what happened here. From what I understand, she lost her parents when the Pirates attacked."

"Understood. Get her to the evac station. She'll be in good hands."

"Understood." As the Trooper had recommended, I led Ayame to the evac station, where survivors would receive medical attention and then be led to a ship that would take them somewhere safe. Ayame was the only living Krawna inhabitant there. Everyone else was covered with a shroud.

"They're all gone," Ayame said, tears welling up in her eyes as she bore witness to the scene of death. "I'm the only one left, aren't I?" I couldn't bring myself to answer that question. When I had learned that all my friends and family had been killed off, I just sat in a corner crying until I had no tears left. But my sad silence only served to answer her question for her, and tears started running down her cheeks.

"I know how you feel," I said sorrowfully. Ayame looked up at me, eyes wide. "The monsters that attacked your home… they attacked mine, too. My father died protecting me. My mother was burned to ashes right in front of me. I was younger than you are now when that happened. I still have nightmares to this day."

Ayame was silent. She was most likely processing what I had just told her. I looked down at her hurting expression. An idea formed in my mind and, after some self-deliberation, I knelt in front of her, a small smile upon my face.

"Ayame," I said gently. "How would you like to come home with me?"

"What?" she asked in surprise.

"We're two of a kind, you and I. I'm not asking to be a replacement for your parents. I don't think I would be able to. I only ask you to let me help you grow and become strong. It's got to be better than going to an orphanage where no one really understands you."

She was quiet again. She looked down at her feet with a thoughtful look in her eyes. Slowly, she turned her head back up and looked me in the eye… and hugged me. "Thank you, Samus." Her voice sounded slightly choked, an obvious sign that she was crying. I hugged the little girl back. She needed all the comforting she could get.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey, guys. I'm currently having a bit of writer's block for my other Metroid fic, so for now, I'm taking this story off hiatus. Besides, this seems to be the more popular of the two, so I guess I'll give the people what they want. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

-o-

Ayame sat up in bed, stretched, and let out a loud yawn. It had been ten years since she had been adopted by the renowned bounty hunter, Samus Aran. They lived in a cheap, yet comfy condo on Earth. The windows had a good view of the cityscape, which was a beautiful sight at dawn and dusk. Ten years ago, they had lived in an old apartment that they had to move out of for the reason that it didn't have enough space.

Over the years, Samus had become more of mother figure to Ayame. The veteran bounty hunter trained her in the Chozo martial arts - which _she_ had learned from the Chozo that had raised her - and how to shoot. It turned out that Ayame was natural with a gun. She wasn't quite at Samus's level, but she still showed a great deal of promise.

"Ayame!" called Samus's voice from outside the bedroom door. "Are you up yet? It's almost time to go for training!"

"I'll be out in a minute!" Ayame called back. She quickly got some fresh clothes on and swiftly brushed a few knots out of her dark hair. When she finished, she rushed out of her room and arrived in the kitchen where Samus was just finishing a bowl of cereal. Hard to believe that the most highly paid bounty hunter in the galaxy would settle on plain old cereal for breakfast. She had never been a very frivolous spender. At least not for herself. When Ayame was younger, she practically spoiled the girl rotten. All Ayame had to do was give the saddest face possible, and sooner or later, Samus would completely fold.

"Good morning, Ayame," the bounty hunter said as she went to rinse her bowl in the sink. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yep." Ayame went over to the refrigerator and pressed a button. A holographic display appeared, revealing the large cooler's contents. This allowed one to decide what to take out before opening the fridge, preventing unnecessary waste of electricity and saving the food from potentially going bad.

She soon took out a carton of milk and then got a bowl from the nearby cabinet and a spoon from the drawer. She would just settle for the cereal that her adoptive mother had for breakfast. She would likely eat at least three bowls. She always had an indomitable appetite, probably because she burned so many calories training with Samus, who wasn't exactly gentle.

"Ayame," Samus said, catching the younger girl's attention. The bounty hunter was currently drinking a cup of coffee. "I have some good news for you. I've got a new mission lined up for next week."

Ayame stopped eating and laid her spoon on the table. "How is that good news? You never take me along on any of your missions." It was true. Even though she had always been ready and able to help on Samus's missions, her mother never let her come along. She had always been told that she wasn't ready yet, and was always left in the hands of Anthony Higgs, one of Samus's old friends.

"That's true," Samus replied to Ayame's statement. "But I think you'll like this: you'll be coming with me."

Ayame gawked. Had she heard right? "You're taking me with you?"

Samus smirked as she sipped her coffee. "If you don't want to come, I'll understand. I'll call Anthony and have him watch you until I come back."

"No!" Ayame shouted. "I want to go with you. I'm just surprised is all."

"Really? You always said that you were good enough to go on real missions, so I figured I'd take along on this one. It's just a small job. We'll be escorting a group of nomads to their next destination, and they'll be going through some fairly treacherous space. It shouldn't be too difficult."

Ayame sighed. She had personally always hoped that her first mission would be a bit more dramatic than an escort, but she knew that complaining would only get her sent to be babysat by Anthony again. She eventually nodded. "All right. But the next mission better be more exciting."

That made Samus chuckle. "We'll see, kiddo. We'll see."

-o-

The two of them entered the Federation HQ, where a pair of Marines stood guard. When asked for identification, Samus let them scan her personal ID card. The Federation soldiers then let the pair head into the building, which only grew more impressive every time Ayame saw it.

"Whoever designed this place must've been compensating for something," she commented with some of the dry humor she had unfortunately picked form Gear, Samus's ship's AI program. Samus couldn't help but chuckle at her adopted daughter's comment. At least her jokes were better than Gear's. More tolerable, too.

"I'll bet," she said. They made their way further into the facility, heading for the holographic training hall. Because of Samus's connections to the Federation military, she was allowed access to all facilities within the HQ, but she spent most of her time in the training hall.

They turned a corner, and a running body literally ran into Ayame, forcing her to the ground. The blow given to her head by the hard, metallic floor made her see stars momentarily, but she was quickly able to once again make sense of her surroundings. She felt something laying on top of her, and she look down to see… a boy about her age… with his face her chest. She promptly screamed, "PERVERT!" and smacked the boy, who went reeling from the blow. Samus broke into full-blown laughter at the scene.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" the boy asked, but his face softened when he realized who he was yelling at. "Ayame? Oh, geez, I am so sorry for that!"

"Connor?" Ayame said in surprise. She suddenly broke out into a huge smile. "Connor! Oh, man, I haven't seen you in forever!"

Connor Mercer, who was actually two years older than Ayame, smiled at her. The two had been friends for years. About a year after Ayame was taken in by Samus, she was brought to the Federation HQ for her first lesson in martial arts. They met when Ayame wandered off in boredom, nearly giving Samus a heart attack. Ayame and Connor met when the girl ran into a group of students at a nearby school who were on a field trip. Connor had stood up for her when a bully started picking on her, and ended up getting into a fight. After that, the two had become close friends.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Connor said, scratching the light brown hair on his head, a habit he performed whenever he was surprised or embarrassed. He was currently feeling both emotions at the moment. "It's only been a year, but it feels like forever."

"What are you doing here?" Samus asked curiously.

"Oh. Well, I signed up to join the Federation military," Connor answered. "I'm officially starting today." He then checked his watch. "Oh, crap! Sorry, I gotta go! I'll see you later Ayame!" With that, he ran off, Ayame looking in his direction rather sadly.

Samus chuckled. "Obvious, much?" Ayame turned to Samus, who smirked. "Well, I guess it's only natural for a girl your age to be interested in a boy."

"What!?" Ayame shouted, completely taken aback. Her face became beet red. "C-Connor's just a friend! You know that, Mom!"

"Amazing how you only call me 'Mom' when you're upset," Samus replied with a grin, to which Ayame huffed. "Come on, Ayame. Let's get to the training hall." She began walking away. Ayame gave one last glance in the direction Connor had left in. she could no longer see him. she sighed and followed her adoptive mother.


	3. Chapter 2

One week has passed since their last visit to the Federation HQ. Samus and Ayame were now on their way to the rendezvous point where they would meet up with their client. They rode in Samus's Gunship in silence. Ayame was actually beginning to feel nervous. What if she messed up? What if she wound up hurting someone? These sudden doubts rushed through her mind like an angry Grenchler in a china shop. She sighed somewhat loudly without meaning to.

"Is something wrong?" Samus asked with a look of concern.

"It's nothing," Ayame said halfheartedly. "Just… first mission jitters I guess."

Samus chuckled at that. "When I was in the Federation officially, I felt the same way on my first mission. It passes after two or three more jobs. Trust me."

Ayame gave a singular nod. "You of all people should know that I trust you. I'm just a little nervous."

"It'll be fine. Don't worry." Samus returned her attention to ship's controls. Ayame looked out the starboard window and watched at the quickly vanishing stars in the great distance. For some reason, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

-o-

Ayame was caught completely off guard by the client's appearance. She figured that the client wouldn't be human, considering that humans rarely left the worlds that they were born on. But the last thing she was expecting was a bunch of giant bug people that looked like oversized mosquitoes. According to Samus, this insectoid species was called the Gorast. They all had a random color scheme on their exoskeletons, and every pair of eyes was a different color, red being the most common between them. They were approached by a one that had red eyes and a green-on-black coloring.

"We bid you welcome, Samus Aran," it said in what sounded like a feminine voice. "I am Gro, leader of this group of nomads." Gro glanced at Ayame. "And who is this young woman?"

Both were silent Samus nudged Ayame with her elbow. "My name is Ayame Miyamoto-Aran. I'm her adopted daughter. I'm here for my first mission as a bounty hunter under her tutelage."

"Ah," Gro said, her eyes squinting in what may have been the equivalent of a satisfied expression. "Very good. An extra set of hands may be useful here."

"When do you plan on leaving?" Samus asked, getting straight to business.

Gro put three-fingered hand on her chin. "About three standard hours. Your arrival is somewhat premature. We still have to get all of our supplies onto our ship, and then we will move on. Would you both be so kind as to aid us?"

"Of course," Samus said with a nod. She motioned for Ayame to follow her as they headed off to help move the supplies. As they walked, Samus said, "Ayame, are you sure nothing's bothering you?"

"What?"

"You seem a little distracted. You're usually so eager to introduce yourself, but you were quiet back there. Why?"

"Gro is a huge bug lady," Ayame deadpanned. "Don't tell you wouldn't be caught off guard by that if you were in my shoes."

"True," Samus admitted. She looked at her daughter with concern. "You can tell me whatever it is that's bothering you. I am your mother after all."

"My adoptive mother."

"But your mother all the same. So tell me: what's wrong?"

Ayame sighed. "Same as earlier. I'm just a little nervous. And… I just have this feeling. Like something bad is going to happen." She received another concerned look. "I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking things."

Samus gave a warm smile and stopped in front of Ayame, who looked at the veteran bounty hunter with some surprise. "Listen, Ayame. You can do this. I have faith that you can. I promise that nothing bad is going to happen. And if something does happen, we'll face it together. Do you understand?" Ayame nodded, her determination rising a little with Samus's words.

-o-

1.5 standard hours later

-o-

Ayame stretched her arms. Her body was already sore. Apparently, despite being nomadic, the Gorast didn't seem to know the definition of the phrase "travel light." They seemed to have much greater physical strength than a standard human. Samus didn't seem to be having too much trouble thanks to the Chozo DNA she was injected with as a child. Ayame sighed. She felt incredibly inadequate with all the super strong aliens and the genetically enhanced Samus Aran walking around carrying huge metal crates stuffed with varying items, from food and drink to the occasional supply of light weapons for defensive purposes.

_I wonder if Samus can get me some Chozo DNA_, she thought. Maybe if there was still some of the stuff around, she could reap the same benefits that Samus does: enhanced strength and speed, incredible reflexes. The works. She sighed as she daydreamed about it. _Man, that would be awesome._

"Excuse me," said a masculine voice behind her. She turned to see a large, apparently male Gorast. He had a white-on-red scheme on his exoskeleton, and dark emerald eyes. "Do you require refreshment, Miss?" He held up a glass of what appeared to be strawberry milk.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Ayame replied, taking the glass. She took a hesitant sip of the pink beverage and found that it tasted nothing like what she was expecting – it was far better. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and had a flavor that was like a mix between cool ice cream and hot chocolate. How it managed a flavor like that was a complete mystery to her. "This is really good!" She drank the rest greedily. The male Gorast chuckled.

"It is made from Chalaka berries from the planet Cordas," he said with squinty eyes, which Ayame had figured out really was the Gorast equivalent of a human's smile. "They only grow wild, and their bushes are often the home of War Wasp Hives. Getting to them is no easy task, but the reward is well worth the effort."

"Well, thank you very much," Ayame replied with a smile. She held out her hand. "By the way, I'm Ayame Miyamoto-Aran, Samus Aran's daughter. What's your name?"

The male Gorast put his fists together and bowed, then shook Ayame's hand with his own bony, but gentle hand. "I am Garnak, son of the Gorast warrior Teguk. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ayame."

"You know, where I come from, 'Garnak' would probably be called a weird name," Ayame commented. She suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth. She hoped she hadn't just offended the Gorast. Garnak simply laughed, to which Ayame breathed a sigh of relief.

"I could say the same of 'Ayame,'" he said jokingly.

"I guess that's true," Ayame admitted. She looked over to the crates to her left. "Would you mind helping me get this stuff onto the ship? I could use a hand."

"I would be honored." Garnak immediately hefted up a huge crate and placed it on his back. Ayame sweat-dropped at the sight.

"You're certainly strong," she commented as she picked up a smaller crate. It was still heavy enough to demand effort. "I wish I had your strength."

"My people have a saying," Garnak said. "'Strength is measured not by the warrior's body, but by the warrior's spirit.' Physical power alone is not enough. A person's power lies in the heart."

"That doesn't exactly help me lift a hundred-pound crate full of who knows what," Ayame deadpanned. "It's a nice thought though."

They talked as they brought the supply crates aboard the Gorast vessel. Ayame told Garnak that she was on her first mission here, helping the Gorast move. In return, Garnak told her that he was also in training to become a warrior, a protector of his people, like his father was. Ayame couldn't help but admire that. Despite the fact that Garnak was basically a giant bug, creatures that Ayame had never been too fond of, he was a nice guy, and seemed determined to be the best warrior he could be. It was really quite admirable.

-o-

About half an hour later, Ayame needed to take another break. She was resting in the shade of a nearby tree, her back against its trunk. She took a sip from a glass of Chalaka berry juice that she had managed to get her hands on, with a little help from Garnak. The flavor was damn near addictive. She hoped it wasn't. The last she would ever need is an addiction to juice from some alien fruit. She watched as the sun set in the horizon, behind a distant range of mountains. Put simply, it was positively picturesque.

_I wonder the sunset looks like on a planet with a red sky?_ Ayame wondered. Samus had told her that such planets existed, but they weren't very common. Ayame hoped that she would someday get to visit a red-skied planet, if only to see what the sunrise and sunset looked like there.

She sighed when she finished her drink. She stood up and stretched her legs a bit. She would have to get back to work before Samus found her lounging about. As she turned to head back to pick up another crate, she heard a strange noise. She turned around. She could've sworn that the sound had come from behind. She shook her head. Maybe she was just hearing things?

But then she heard the noise again. It sounded much closer than before. It sounded vaguely like the engines of a large ship. She backed away from the tree that she had been resting under to try and get a better look. When she finally had a clear view, her eyes widened in horror. Her mind flashed back to when she was only six years old. She recognized the design of the massive ship before her. The three huge prongs on the bow, the blue light in the middle at the ship's front, the gunmetal gray color scheme. There was no mistaking it.

It was a Space Pirate warship.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: I feel like I have to come clean about something really quick. To be totally honest, I kind of stole the word "Gorast" from Lego. It's the name of one of their Bionicle figures, specifically a female villain. I couldn't think of anything else that would fit them, so there you go.

-o-

Samus already had her armor on. The Power Suit's added strength helped with lifting the heavy supplies, even if the Arm Cannon made carrying them a bit awkward. Of course, she hadn't expected a pirate warship to come along. She immediately dropped the large steel crate that she had on her back and stared at the ship in shock and horror. She then cursed. She could easily guess that the pirates were after whatever valuables that the nomadic Gorast had on them. She then quickly realized something.

"Ayame," she muttered as she ran to find her daughter before anything bad could happen.

-o-

Ayame stood in frozen disbelief. Images from her first encounter with the Space Pirates flashed through her mind. She could vividly remember every detail, every gory sight, every ghastly sound. She simply stood, her whole body trembling as a small group of landing pods were ejected from the ship. One pod landed right in front of her as the others surrounded the Gorast ship.

Ten Space Pirates emerged from the pod, and all of them immediately aimed to fire at her. But before they could shoot, a blur of white and red appeared and knocked two of them away in one move. The pirates fired at the attacker, who picked up the weapons of the two pirates he had just killed and quickly returned fire, nimbly dodging his enemies' shots. The remaining eight pirates were soon dispatched.

"Ayame!" said Garnak, who shook the girl with his hand. She looked at him in surprise. What just happened? "Are you injured? Is that why you hesitated?"

It took Ayame a minute to process that much. "N-no. I'm fine. I just…" She trailed off. She lied when she said that she was fine. The truth was that she was completely terrified, but she had too much pride to admit that. Yet another trait she had picked up from Samus. "Let's just go! We have to protect the others!"

Garnak nodded and handed her one of the pirate assault rifles, which she took rather reluctantly. It was lightweight. It was a bit heavier than a Federation pistol, but much lighter than a basic assault rifle. It felt strangely fitting, probably because it was designed to fit a humanoid arm. _Weird_, Ayame thought with a slightly raised eyebrow.

The two of them began running to the Gorast ship, with Garnak blasting any pirate that dared get in their way before Ayame got a chance to get her first kill. Not that it was something that she was looking forward to. Quite the opposite, really. But the more pirates she saw fall by Garnak's hand, the more helpless she felt. She shook her head. She couldn't think like that. There were far more important things to worry about at the moment.

-o-

Samus blasted a Space Pirate's head right off of its shoulders. That marked her sixteenth kill today. And there were still more where that came from. She had no idea how many had arrived, and how they had managed to get to the Gorast ship without Gear alerting her to their presence.

She heard a pirate releasing a battle cry behind her. She immediately turned to shoot the hostile in the chest, but a Gorast warrior beat her to it. She nodded her appreciation for the insect-like alien's aid and continued her search for Ayame. She had only run about ten feet before stopping at the sound of a screech-like roar. Her eyes widened in absolute dread. She looked up in the sky. She had hoped that she was wrong about her assumption, that maybe she was just hearing things. But what she saw confirmed her fears. She barely caught the sight, but she could tell by the fading sunlight being reflected as a dark purple just who and what she saw.

"Dammit!" she said as she began sprinting, her suit's Speed Booster function allowing her to cover more ground. She had to find Ayame, and fast.

-o-

"Where do they keep coming from!?" Ayame shouted when she heard an explosion, sending dirt and debris everywhere within range. The pirates had the entire area surrounded and were likely killing off innocents and stealing anything that wasn't nailed down.

"That warship keeps sending out landing pods," Garnak said in a frustrated tone. He blasted another pirate as it tried to close in on them. "My people will not be able to escape unless that aerial abomination is destroyed. Have you any ideas?"

"If we can get back to Samus's Gunship, maybe we could take it and attack the pirates directly." Ayame thought that over for a minute. "Then again, I have no idea how to pilot the thing."

"You are Samus Aran's daughter, yet you do not know how to pilot her ship?"

"She said that she'd teach me when I turned eighteen," Ayame muttered with a sigh. "Well, I guess we can only hope that Samus thinks up a better-"

She was unable to finish her sentence as a piercing cry was heard. It sounded like a demonic cross between a bat's screech and a tiger's roar. A huge _thud_ was heard, along with heavy footsteps and a deep growl. Ayame and Garnak both looked over their cover – a decently sized crate – and saw the owner of that frightening call. It was huge and dragon-like, with an almost serpentine body covered in dark purple scales, and cold, yellow-orange eyes that screamed for bloodshed. Ayame froze at the sight. The great beast before her was by far the most intimidating and terrifying creature she had ever seen.

"W-what is that thing?" she asked. At that, the monster let out a mocking chuckle.

"I didn't expect to find a human here," the monster growled in a deep, masculine voice, its dragonish mouth forming the rough shape of an evil smile. "What a lucky find. Your species always tastes the sweetest."

"Who are you, monster?" Garnak demanded as he took a protective stance in front of Ayame.

The alien dragon laughed. "I'm glad you asked, little insect." The creature stood to its full height, its wings spreading out menacingly. "I am Ridley! Master of the Space Pirates!"

-o-

A/N: Ridley is a kick-ass Nintendo villain. That is all.


	5. Chapter 4

Ayame stared at the massive alien dragon in what could only be described as pure fear. She stood still as a statue, unable to move. She didn't even notice Garnak shouting at her to wake up from her terror-induced trance. She could only stare fearfully into Ridley's hate-filled eyes.

"You seem familiar, girl," Ridley hissed menacingly. "Where have we met before? Are you one of the few that I've allowed to live in the many invasions that I've been a part of?" Ayame didn't answer. She merely trembled at the sound of the beast's voice. Ridley chuckled. "Well then, allow me to put you out of your misery." He reared back, the inside of his mouth slowly lighting up with flames.

"No!" Garnak shouted as he took a position in front of Ayame, his stolen assault rifle aimed at Ridley's head. "I will not allow you to harm any innocents, monster!"

Ridley just laughed as his head went forward, sending a stream of hungry fire flying towards them. Time seemed to slow down. Ayame reacted on pure instinct. She pulled Garnak with all the strength she could muster and forced him down to the ground. They both landed belly-down on the ground as the flames roared just above them. Ayame looked up at Ridley when the heat of searing flame disappeared. The alien dragon narrowed his eyes at the human girl and the Gorast warrior.

"I guess my aim is getting a bit rusty," he admitted with a frustrated growl. He then chuckled lightly. "Oh well. I prefer rending the flesh from my victims anyway!" He pounced at them.

Ayame and Garnak rolled in opposite directions as Ridley's claws tore through the earth where they had been not even three seconds ago. The dragon then unleashed another screeching roar as he lunged at Garnak, who stood up quickly and actually jumped clear over the pirate leader. The Gorast then fired off a volley shots from his rifle, each bolt splashing ineffectively on Ridley's iron-like hide. When he landed, Garnak charged at the dragon, who quickly spun around and backhanded the insectoid. Garnak crashed into a tree, causing the hard plant to fall under the sudden pressure. He didn't get up.

"Worthless," Ridley commented with his own twisted version of a grin. "You can't even put up a worthy fight, you glorified cockroach." He turned his evil eyes to Ayame. "Try to make this interesting for me, will you? I've had worthy battles from human females before. You had best not disappoint me, child." He approached her, his impossibly long tail swishing back and forth behind him, almost tauntingly.

Ayame gulped and held up the pirate assault rifle on her trembling arm. "D-don't you come any closer! I-I'll shoot!" Ridley cocked his head a little to the right. He then began laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You, girl. You say that you'll shoot me, but look at yourself. You're trembling like a newborn. To make things worse for yourself, you lack the eyes needed to kill."

"Eyes?"

"Yes. Look into my eyes, human. Do you see the lack of relenting in them? These are the eyes of someone who is ready to kill at a moment's notice. You don't have the eyes of a killer. And judging by the way you're trembling at the mere sight me, I doubt you ever will. You may as well let me put you out of your misery right here and now."

Ayame's eyes widened in fear. Was he right? She wanted to pull the trigger, but she just couldn't. Not even to save herself. She could feel her eyes growing wet. Was she going to die here? Sixteen seemed way too young an age to die at. She muttered, "Go away. Please. Just go away."

Ridley's answer was a quick brutal strike into her abdomen with side of his tail. The impact forced her to cough up blood as Ridley caught her with his large hand. He held her tight, his grip practically crushing her. She let out a pained cry as she felt several ribs break. She could here Ridley laughing, clearly enjoying her suffering.

"AYAME!" screamed woman's anger-laden voice. Both Ayame and Ridley turned their heads to Samus Aran aiming her Arm Cannon at Ridley's head. "Put her down, Ridley! If you hurt her anymore, I swear I _will_ kill you!"

Ridley sneered at Samus, then looked at Ayame. He then looked back at Samus, but with an evil grin. "Well, well, Aran. You seem rather attached to this girl. What's the relation? Childhood friend? Distant relative? Secret lover?"

"Shut up and just let her go!" Samus demanded. Ridley only laughed.

"You and I both know that in or current position, I could easily snap her puny neck before you can pull the trigger." Ayame's eyes widened. She couldn't do anything to defend herself, or free herself from Ridley's crushing grasp. Ridley continued, saying, "Tell me, Aran. What is this girl to you?"

Samus narrowed her eyes behind her visor. She clenched her teeth as she resisted the urge to charge up a Super Missile. "She's my daughter. I adopted her ten years ago when I found her on the mining world Krawna."

"Krawna, eh?" Ridley chuckled. "Well, that explains the déjà vu. I believe I may be the one who orphaned her. Then again, ten years was a long time ago." If at all possible, Ayame's eyes widened even further. This monster was the one who killed her real parents? And she had hesitated to shoot him. This revelation made her feel even more worthless. Ridley snickered silently to himself, his attention still on Samus. "I think I may have a proposal for you, Aran."

"I make it a rule not to make deals with bastards who orphan innocent children," Samus replied angrily.

"Oh, I think you'll like this deal, Aran," Ridley hissed with a grin. "If you refuse, I'll crush the life out of this girl." To prove his point, he tightened his grip on Ayame's body, forcing more screams of pain out of the girl. Samus gasped and was about to fire at Ridley when the dragon continued. "Surrender yourself, Aran, and I'll let the girl go."

Samus's eyes widened at this. "You want me to surrender? Fat chance, you oversized iguana."

"You'd best reconsider. Unless of course you don't care what happens to your precious daughter." Ayame couldn't say anything right now. The pain was far too disorienting. "Surrender, or she dies."

Samus hesitated. She never hesitated. Her only option were to surrender to the monster who killed her mother, or watch her own daughter be crushed to death. Reluctantly, she lowered her Arm Cannon and deactivated her Power Suit. "Fine. I surrender. Now let her go."

"Not yet," Ridley said with dark glee. He motioned for one of his nearby underlings to approach Samus. "Give up all of your weapons first." Samus gave the alien dragon a hateful look, but willed the nanotechnology of her suit to mold itself into its dormant, coin-like form, which the nearby Space Pirate took a hold of. She was then forced to hand in her Paralyzer, her personal self-defense pistol. Another Space Pirate then placed energy cuffs on her wrists. Ridley grinned. "Good."

"Let Ayame go," Samus demanded. "You have me as your prisoner now. Surely I'm a far bigger prize to you pirates than some nomad ship and one girl."

Ridley nodded and simply dropped Ayame, who fell to the ground with a soft _thud_. She was barely conscious. "Take the Hunter to the nearest pod. Keep her weapons and gear in a separate pod. Keep your weapons trained on her."

The surrounding pirates nodded as one pushed Samus forward. She didn't spare the pirate a glare as she walked forward. Ridley leaped up into the air and flew back to the pirates' warship. Samus looked down at Ayame's semi-conscious prone form. The girl looked up weakly. Her eyes were waterfalls. Samus looked away, desperately trying to fight her own tears.

Ayame watched painfully as Samus stepped aboard the nearest pirate landing pod. The bounty hunter only looked back, her eyes glinting tearfully. She mouthed three words: "I'm sorry. Goodbye." The pod's door slowly closed. The small ship then lifted from the ground and headed for the warship.

"No…" Ayame muttered weakly, reaching hopelessly for the pod carrying her mother further and further away. "Mom…" Mere seconds later, darkness enveloped her vision.


	6. Chapter 5

A seven-year-old Ayame yawned as she crawled out of bed. She was still sleepy, even though it was obviously morning. She had the strange feeling that she had forgotten something, but she was too tired to try and remember what it was. She went into the kitchen get breakfast, but for some reason, the lights had been off. That was strange, because Samus was always an early riser. She reached up as far as her small arms would allow and turned the lights back on.

"Surprise!" shouted a menagerie of familiar voices. She jumped at the sudden shouts and looked to see Samus, Mr. Higgs, her best friend Connor, and several of Samus's old friends who Ayame saw as family. She saw the medium-sized cake on the kitchen table, with eight candles in it. The words "Happy Birthday, Ayame!" were written in blue icing over the white. It took a minute for her to process what was happening, but when she finally understood, her face broke out into a huge smile. She immediately ran and jumped into Samus's arms, grinning gratefully

"Happy birthday," Samus said warmly as she hugged the girl. When they let each other go, Samus helped Ayame up onto the chair closest to the birthday cake.

Ayame blew out the candles, and everyone got a slice of the cake. When it came time to open presents, she was even more excited. She immediately went for Mr. Higgs's gift first, deciding to save Samus's for last. She tore through all of the gifts; Mr. Higgs gave her a toy robot, knowing her love of technological stuff. Connor and his parents gave her a doll with three different outfits. She got plenty of gifts from everyone at the party, and it was soon time for Samus's present.

"Here you go, Ayame," she said with a motherly smile, holding a colorfully wrapped box for her adopted daughter. "I hope you like what I got you."

Ayame gave her mother a toothy grin and said, "Of course I will!" She then tore the wrapping paper off the box in a furious rush. She then took the lid off of the box… and a huge stream of flames exploded from within, followed by mad laughter.

Out of the box came a huge, purple-scaled dragon with evil yellow-orange eyes. It said, "Happy birthday, girl!" as it proceeded to incinerate everybody, sparing only Ayame, who screamed in terror as she watched the people closest to her be killed off in an instant.

-o-

Ayame shot up from the bed she was in, panting, eyes wide, heart pounding, her brow drenched in cold sweat. She looked around and saw that she was apparently in a hospital room. She lied back down, her hand on her forehead.

_It was only a dream… it was only a dream…_ She repeated this mantra several times before she heard the door open. She sat up and saw Connor walking in. When her childhood friend saw that she was awake, his face broke out into a big, relieved smile.

"You're awake!" he said as he rushed over to Ayame's side. "When my squad was sent to locate survivors where your first mission was, I thought you could've been hurt. And then we found you out cold in a clearing. You had everybody worried there for a while. Some of us didn't think you'd make it. Your injuries were pretty bad."

"I'm sorry," Ayame muttered. Just then, something clicked in her mind. "Wait. Where's Samus?"

Connor's smile almost immediately vanished. He hung his head. "I… I'm sorry, Ayame. Nobody could find her. She was most likely… killed."

Ayame stared at her friend, then laid her head back down on her pillow, placing her arm over her watering eyes. "She's not dead. At least… not yet." Connor gave Ayame a confused look. "I saw her be taken away. She traded herself to save me." She was now letting out choked sobs. "It's all my fault! She gave herself up because I was too weak to protect myself! I'm pathetic!"

"Ayame," Connor said sorrowfully. He reached to place a hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away. Suddenly feeling dejected, he said, "Don't cry, Ayame. It wasn't your fault. You're not weak."

"It _was_ my fault! I _am _weak! I'm a pathetic, worthless creature that doesn't even deserve to exist!"

"Are you whining?" said a man's voice from the door. Both teens looked to see Anthony Higgs with his rare "I'm completely serious" expression. He had his arms crossed as he leaned against the door. "Ayame, you can't call yourself weak just because you messed up on your first mission."

"But…" Ayame muttered as tears continued streaking down her cheeks. "Samus… She's… she's gone. The pirates took her."

"All the more reason to stoop moping and start getting you shit together." Ayame looked up at Anthony in surprise at his language. "Samus didn't raise you to be an emotional wreck. She taught you everything she could. You can shoot. You can fight. You're even better with computers than Samus herself is. Right now, what you need to do is put those skills to the real test."

"What do you mean?" Ayame asked.

Anthony turned and took a step away. "Wait for me at the condo when you're released from the hospital. They should let you go in a few days. I'll see you then." With that, he left.

Connor was the first to speak. "What did he mean by 'the real test'?"

"I don't know," Ayame admitted. After several silent moments, she faced her friend again and said, "Do you know what happened to the Gorast nomads?"

"A few were killed, but not many," Connor replied. "Most of them suffered from several injuries, but they were otherwise unharmed. There was one that seemed more worried about you than himself."

Ayame looked up at the ceiling. "That was probably Garnak. I guess he's officially on my short list of friends."

Connor was silent for several more seconds. He seemed lost in thought. Finally, he said, "Ayame, there's something that I need to talk to you about." She gave him a slightly surprised look. "You see… Ayame… I-" There was a beeping sound at his belt. He checked the standard issue beeper-like device and sighed. "I'm sorry. I have to go. My CO wasn't too thrilled about me skipping out on training to check up on you, so I have to make it up cleaning dishes for the next two weeks." He stood up and headed for the door. "Be sure to ring me up when they let you out of here. It'd be nice to talk to you without you being injured." At that, he left Ayame alone.

She sighed as she sat there. All she could do now was wait to be released.

-o-

Two day later…

Ayame stretched as she stepped outside the hospital doors, taking in the fresh air. She looked up at the sky. Somewhere out there, Samus was being held prisoner by the Space Pirates… or she was already dead. Ayame shook her head. No. She couldn't think like that. Samus was resourceful and strong. She could handle anything that fate threw her way. It took more than a few pirates to put down the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy.

She immediately made her way to her and Samus's condo, where Higgs had said to wait for him. It didn't take too long to get there. Just about an hour's walk. When she got the actual condo, she automatically went for the holo-phone to call Connor and let him know that she was finally free of that prison of doctors and needles.

When the screen came up, she put in his number and waited. She didn't wait long for an answer. Connor's mother appeared on the holographic screen. She smiled when she saw Ayame.

"What a surprise!" she said happily. "We weren't expecting a call from you, Ayame! We heard that you were in the hospital! Are you all right?"

Ayame nodded with a small smile. "I'm fine now. Is Connor there? He told me to call him when I got out."

"Oh, he's staying at the Federation building with his teammates. But I'll be sure to call him and let him know that you're okay." Ayame nodded, feeling a little embarrassed. Of course he wasn't home. He was in the military now.

"Okay. Thank you. Goodbye, Mrs. Mercer." Connor's mother gave a warm farewell before Ayame ended the call. She sat down in the nearest chair and waited. Anthony should arrive soon.

-o-

Time: 12:32 AM, standard

-o-

Ayame awoke to the sound of knocking at her door. She got up, rubbing her eyes tiredly, and moved to open the door. The visitor was none other than Anthony Higgs.

"Come on, Ayame," he said as he took a hold of her arm. "Let's go."

"Wait!" Ayame said, the sudden surprise waking her up. "Where are we going?"

Anthony turned to face her with a serious look. "I'm taking you to where you can get your inheritance."

-o-

**Hmm. This chapter seems a little short to me for some reason. Oh well, whatever. I'll update again very soon. Not same-day soon, but still.**


	7. Chapter 6

Connor yawned as he rinsed off another plate. His CO had forced him to work well into the night. After he got a call from his parents telling him that Ayame had been released from the hospital, he wanted to go see her again to check up on her, but he would only get in more trouble for shirking work. He looked over at the clock on the wall to his right. The face read 1:36 AM. He hung his head tiredly and sighed. He then looked to his left. There were still about twenty dishes left for him to take care of.

He looked out the small window in front of him. _I hope she's all right,_ he thought. He then chuckled lightly to himself. _Who am I kidding? Of course she's all right. She'll be fine._ He continued the mundane task of washing dishes. He was determined to finish before sunrise.

-o-

Anthony led Ayame to an old warehouse in the downtown of the city. It was clearly a bad neighborhood. There were thugs everywhere looking at her with hungry eyes. Some of those thugs were actually girls. That only served to unnerve her even more. She was certain that if Anthony wasn't guiding her, she could easily have become a victim of God knows whatever crime. She was grateful for the large man's protective nature.

Anthony pulled open the door to the warehouse and beckoned Ayame inside. When she entered, she saw that the whole place looked as though it were coming apart. It was like a stereotypical haunted building from some cheesy horror movie. There were old machine parts rusting up, several windows were busted, and paint was peeling from the walls. There were a few old, wooden pillars that looked like termites got to them.

"Come on," Anthony said as he walked ahead of her. She followed quietly, silently taking in the sites. Some of what she saw made her physically cringe. She thought she heard a rat scuttle about somewhere in the building, but it was echoed throughout the mostly silent warehouse, so it was impossible to be sure.

Anthony stopped at a wall and pressed his palms on it. He began feeling around the wall, apparently searching for something. Soon enough, a little square of blue light appeared, surrounding his hand. That section of wall flipped around, revealing a numbered keypad and a retinal scanner.

"Please enter admission code," said the voice of Gear, Samus's ship's onboard AI. Ayame's eyes widened at this, but before she could say anything, the computer said, "If you do not enter the correct admission code, you shall be terminated. Unsurprisingly, it is a very unpleasant way to die." Ayame sweat-dropped. Yep, that was Gear all right. She watched Anthony press a few keys.

"53176," he said as he typed in the code. "Remember that, Ayame." He then leaned down to allow the retinal scanner to scan his left eye.

"Code verified," Gear's voice said. "Retinal scan complete. Subject: Anthony Higgs. Welcome." The keypad flipped over again. After a few brief seconds, a rectangle of blue light appeared on the wall, and that section open up like a pair of automatic doors at the mall, revealing an elevator. Anthony stepped inside, Ayame following hesitantly.

"Hunter HQ, bottom level," Anthony said. The elevator doors closed shut, and the transport began descending. Ayame took this opportunity.

"Mr. Higgs, what's going on?" she asked. "What did you mean when said that we were getting my inheritance?"

Anthony chuckled silently. "I guess it's about time you knew. You see, Samus has places like this all over the galaxy. Some facilities were already there, and were repaired to suit her needs, and the needs of other Federation employed bounty hunters. Others were built from scratch. All of those were constructed in secret, out-of-the-way locations. Like this underground facility. They're all funded by the Federation. But this one's special."

"What do you mean 'special'?"

Anthony grinned at her. "Samus had this place made specifically for you, kid." Ayame's eyes widened at that. "This place has all the latest tech. But she only wanted you to see it under one of two conditions. Either she determines that you're ready for it, or if something bad happened to her."

"She had an entire underground facility built just for me?" Ayame asked. Was this just some kind of dream? If so, she really hoped that Ridley wouldn't make another appearance and make it a nightmare. "Well, what's so special about the bottom floor?"

"In the case of the second condition, Samus told me to show you something that only she, Gear, and I know about." Before Ayame could press further, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened, revealing a _long_ hallway. Ayame almost groaned at the length of the hallway, but had enough self-control not to. Anthony started down the hall, and Ayame followed.

After about twenty minutes of walking, the two of them stopped at a door. Anthony stepped aside. "This one is coded to your and Samus's DNA. You're one of the only two people in the galaxy who can open it."

Ayame gave him a confused look at first, and reluctantly moved toward the door. She stopped at a panel that looked like a hand scanner. She placed her palm on the device, which lit up a second. She suddenly felt something prick her hand, and she pulled away in surprise. Checking her hand, she saw that she was bleeding.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, still surprised.

"I said that it was coded to you DNA, didn't I?" Anthony answered. "The blood contains the most secure sample of a person's DNA. You'll get used to it."

"I hope so," Ayame muttered as the door opened, sliding upwards into the frame. She followed Anthony inside. She looked around in awe at the room. It was filled with the most advanced technological marvels she had ever seen. On the opposite end of the room, there was what appeared to be some kind of stasis chamber, where a person would enter cryosleep for a set period of time.

"Welcome, Ayame," said Gear's voice again. "This is your personal headquarters, designed by Samus Aran especially for you. You have free run here. This place has everything you could possibly want. High-end supercomputers, holographic shooting range, testing areas for new and old weapons alike, even an indoor pool and a game room on the third level. Do you have any questions?"

"Is that really you Gear?" she asked.

"Who else could it be?" Gear replied dryly. "Samus gave me an upgrade that allows me to monitor this facility whenever I please. You can also call me whenever you need help with something. So, by all means… don't need my help."

"Yep," Ayame said with a large bead of sweat on the back of her head. "There's no doubt about who you are now."

Anthony laughed at that for a brief moment. When he became serious again, he led Ayame to the stasis chamber. "In here is something that Samus and I, plus a select few within the Federation, have kept secret for a long time." He pressed a small button next to the chamber, which opened slowly.

Ayame gasped at the chamber's contents. It was like an entirely red variation of Samus's Zero Suit, with the Chozo symbol on the left side of the chest being a bright green. She was certain the X-shaped symbol on the back matched the Chozo symbol.

"Yet another thing Samus had made just for you," Anthony explained. "The Zero Suit V2. Like Samus's suit, it has a built-in nanotech network that responds to the user's thoughts. However, it's designed so that it only obeys your commands. It's bulletproof, fireproof, and resistant to cold. It's also capable of something Samus calls the Power Burst. At the cost of almost all of the suit's power, it unleashes a huge thermal blast over a huge radius. The only thing that would be unaffected by the blast would be you. So you'd best be careful when and where you detonate it."

"In other words," Gear said. "Try not to incinerate any friends."

"I can figure that much, Gear," Ayame deadpanned. She gazed at the Zero Suit V2 in awe. Had Samus really created something so amazing just for her? She hung her head. Tears were forming in her eyes again. She quietly muttered, "I promise…"

"What was that?" Anthony asked.

Ayame wiped her eyes with her arm and gave the tall man a determined look. "I promise. I'm going to save my mother. It's the least that I can do after all she's done for me."

Anthony blinked at the girl. He then smiled at her. "You're going to need help with that." He pointed a thumb at himself. "Samus is my friend. And I never turn my back on a friend."

Ayame nodded gratefully. She then returned her gaze to the suit that Samus had made for her. She was going to repay her debt to the bounty hunter that saved her so many years ago.

-o-

She woke up in the dingy cell once again. Three days. That's how long it had been since she had been taken. At least, that's how it felt. She could tell that she was still on board the pirate warship. She looked at the energy cuffs constricting her wrists and sighed in minor annoyance. The pirates apparently wanted to her to constantly be aware of the fact that she was their prisoner now.

Samus could only hope that Ayame was safe, that she had somehow survived, despite her injuries. She chuckled to herself. The girl really did bring out her inner mother. Even when she knew that she was most likely going to die, all she could worry about was Ayame.

She looked up at the ceiling. _Be safe, Ayame,_ she thought with a tiny smile on her face. _Don't do anything that I wouldn't._ She lied back down on the uncomfortable cot that had been supplied for her. She could only wait for fate's decision.


	8. Chapter 7

**Okay, first, I want to apologize for not updating earlier. My computer decided to be dumb over the weekend, so I couldn't work on anything. I know I usually update daily (which is kind of pathetic really), but my computer obviously doesn't care about my schedule.**

**Second, I have to rant. I recently watched a review on YouTube about Metroid: Other M. It was an X-Play (a show on the G4 video game channel)review, so I thought I'd check it out. SOme chick named Morgan Webb was giving the review... and I disagreed with nearly everything that she said. She claimed that it completely sucked and that Samus was turned into a "sexualized character" because they showed "ass shots." If you ask me, it was just poor camera placement in the cutscenes. She also says that Samus is bitchy and that she shouldn't talk. Let me ask you all this: if a race of evil, blood-thirsty aliens came to your home an killed both of your parents, wouldn't you be a little bitchy? Samus has definitely earned the right to complain if you ask me. As for Adam Malkovich being "personality-free" as Morgan put it, he's most likely the same as me: he may have aspurgers. It's a condition that makes it hard for someone to understand how others think and act, and often gives the subject a reserved personality. Adam clearly cares for Samus, but Morgan CLEARLY ignores that. As for people who believe Samus was portrayed as "weak" in the game, she has posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. She was traumatized as a little girl when her mother was incinerated right in front of her. When Ridley appeared in Other M when Samus thought that he was dead, it only makes SENSE that she would have a panic attack.**

**All of this being said sums up to three things: Other M is a legitimately good game with great stroytelling, Samus Aran was NOT portrayed as a weak, sexualized character, and most importantly... Morgan Webb sucks. Now then, with that out of the way, enjoy the chapter.**

-o-

Ayame held up a framed picture. She let a small smile form on her face as she looked at the image. It was a picture of her and Samus that taken at an amusement park when she was nine. Samus had cancelled a high-paying mission that day just to be with her adopted daughter. Ayame hadn't known about that detail at the time. She only found out because Anthony had brought it up once. Samus had done so much for her. She had to return the favor somehow. She set the picture back down and turned away. She was about to exit the condo when somebody knocked on the door.

_Talk about timing,_ she thought with surprise. She opened the door and saw Connor standing there. His face went red when he saw her. She couldn't blame him though. Her new Zero Suit V2 was incredibly formfitting, but not so much so as to be uncomfortable. "Hey."

"Hey," Connor replied to her greeting. "I heard you were all right, so I decided that I should pay a visit." There was a strange silence then. "That outfit looks good on you."

"Thanks," Ayame replied with a slight blush. "I… I have to go, so…"

"You're going to find her, aren't you?" Ayame gave her friend a surprised look, to which he gave a small grin. "It only makes sense. She's the one who raised you. And you're too loyal a person to just leave her to die. Of course you'll try to find and save her." Ayame hung her head and gave a small nod, not saying a word. "Well, I guess it's settled then."

"What?"

"I'm coming with you." Ayame was about to protest, but he raised a hand to stop her. "Hear me out: even with all the training you've gotten from Samus, the odds are stacked against you. There's safety in numbers, and there's power in friends. Cheesy, I know, but it remains true all the same. I'm not letting you face an army of Space Pirates all by yourself."

"I won't be going alone," Ayame corrected him with a small pout. "Mr. Higgs is going to help me find Samus. If anyone can help me save her, it's him."

"Still," Connor persisted. "I'm coming, and there's nothing you can do to change my mind."

Ayame sighed in defeat. Connor was telling the truth. One of his most admirable traits was his stubbornness. He didn't give up until he accomplished something. That said, it was also by far his most annoying trait as well. "Fine, you can come. Just… don't get hurt, okay? I wouldn't be able to forgive either of us if you did."

Connor smirked. "Don't you worry. I've always dreamt of being able to go on a mission like this. I don't plan on letting my first true mission become my last."

"Don't you have to clear this with your CO?"

"I already did." Connor's smirk slowly faded. "I'll have to do a year's worth of dish duty when I get back though. But I'm sure it'll be well worth it."

Ayame nodded with a smile. "I'm going to meet Mr. Higgs at the Federation landing docks where Samus's ship was taken. Go get your gear and meet us there."

"All right," Connor agreed as he turned to leave. "I'll see you then."

Ayame watched with a sad smile as Connor left. She was truly grateful for his concern, and she really was happy that he was so eager to help her. But she was afraid that he would get hurt. And that's when her questions came rolling in: what if he got hurt because of her? What if he ended up to injured to be a soldier anymore? What if he…?

She shook her head, forcing those dark thoughts out of her mind. She couldn't let herself be distracted by doubt; not in herself, and definitely not in her best friend. Connor was too stubborn to go down easily. Hell, even when he's just playing card games, he persists until he's got nothing, and even then he keeps on going. He was like a factory of stubbornness.

Pushing those thoughts aside for now, she sighed quietly and left to meet with Anthony. She would have to explain Connor's inclusion, too.

-o-

Anthony was leaning on the Gunship as he waited for Ayame. He checked his watch. She should've arrived twenty minutes ago! She was probably caught up in saying goodbyes to all her friends and whatnot. He couldn't help but smile at the thought. She was clearly eager to go save Samus, but she was still just a kid, no matter how tough she acted around certain people. She was just like Samus in a way: usually wearing a tough shell, but will sometimes let that barrier fall away for the sake of friends.

The sound of footsteps in a run broke his musing. He noticed Ayame running towards him, with her friend Connor following in his Federation uniform.

"Hey there," he greeted them when they stopped in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at Connor. "Care to explain why he's here?"

Ayame took a second to catch her breath before answering. "He insisted on coming along, and I caved."

"I hope that I can be of some assistance, sir," Connor said in a formal tone reserved for superior officers as he stood with his back as straight as possible. "I've already cleared it with my commanding officer. I decided to come because I wanted to help Ayame." Anthony gave the eighteen-year-old a rare analytical look. Connor suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

Soon, Anthony smirked and nodded. "All right then. Ayame knows her friends better than I do. If she thinks you can handle what's coming your way, then I won't doubt you." He cocked his head toward the platform at the bottom of the Gunship. The first to step aboard was Ayame.

She walked through the short, narrow corridor leading to the cockpit. Despite the ship's compact size, it had enough room to fit five people. Three in the cockpit, and two in the back. it was designed this way in case Samus ever decided to take on joint operations with other bounty hunters. Ayame immediately headed for the pilot's chair, which was set in an optimal position behind the windshield: ahead and between the two passenger seats. This allowed the pilot a near perfect view of the space ahead of the ship. But the whole thing seemed dead and empty without Samus behind the controls.

"Something on your mind, kid?" she heard Anthony ask. She turned to face him, then looked down, suddenly depressed.

"I miss her," she said simply.

Anthony gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, kid. Samus is tough. She can take care of herself. Believe me when I say that she's been in worse situations before. It'll take way more than whatever the pirates can throw at her to take her down."

"I guess so." She still wasn't completely assured. Regardless of all of her feats, Samus was still only human. Sure, she had Chozo DNA in her system, thanks to those same birdlike people, but that didn't make her invincible. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard an impressed whistle.

"Look at all this!" Connor said in awe at the hyper-advanced technology of the Gunship. "This thing's equipped for everything, isn't it?"

"Damn straight," Anthony replied with a grin. "Samus was nicknamed 'Prep' back in her Federation days, because she was always ready for everything, always prepared for every little detail. The motto she went by back then was 'better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.' I'm sure you can see what she meant." Anthony proceeded to give Connor a brief lecture about what certain things were (that he knew of) and what they were for.

As that was happening, Ayame hesitantly sat down in the pilot's seat. Immediately, Gear's little eye-like camera appeared, ejecting itself from the ceiling and floating around Ayame's head. She had designed this little feature herself so that Gear wouldn't be as confined. Of course, the eye still needed to recharge its power after a while, so the AI couldn't wander too far from the ship.

"Hey, Ayame," Gear said in a tone that somehow sounded sleepy. "I guess you're going to finally get to learn how to pilot the ship."

"Yes," Ayame replied. "Connor, Mr. Higgs! Buckle up! We're going to take off soon!" Their response was quick. They went to the passenger seats and buckled themselves in. They both gave affirmative nods when they were ready. Ayame nodded back and faced the ship's controls. Gear immediately began giving instructions on how to fly the Gunship. Ayame placed her left hand on the glowing blue sphere that acted as a steering wheel for the craft. She quickly got a feel for the controls, and, thanks to her innate talent with all things technology, she memorized every detail Gear had shared.

"All right, boys," she said when she believed she was ready. "Cross your fingers." She flipped a few switches and held her hand over the ignition button, taking in a deep breath. _Okay, Ayame. You can do this. It's just like riding a bike… a seven-ton, ultra-high-tech, bike, but the principal still applies._ She pressed the ignition button. She felt the ship lift up off the ground. It slowly left the docking platform. Her eyes then gained a determined look. _Don't worry, Samus. We'll find you. And we'll save you._ She pressed down on the steering sphere, and the ship sped off and away from Earth.


	9. Chapter 8

**(Author slams a wrought-iron door behind himself) Hey... sorry. I know I haven't updated for a while, but I've been busy with... well, life. School, home, etc. Plus, I've been working on something private, so I haven't really been paying attention to this story. This chapter seems a little lackluster to me, but it's the only one I've got, so please, forgive me.**

**Also, before you start reading the actual chapter, I would like for everyone to take moment of silence for the innocent people - 6 adults and 20 young children - who were killed earlier today (12/14/2012) in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. May they all rest in peace.**

-o-

The Gunship flew through the void of space, with virtually no destination. It had been several days after they had left Earth, and they were no closer to finding Samus than Gear was to becoming organic. Ayame had been piloting the compact shuttle nonstop ever since they left. She refused to even allow herself the luxury of sleep. She couldn't rest until she saved her mother. Her eyelids felt heavy all of a sudden. Her head drooped a little, her eyes slowly closing.

_Maybe just a little catnap,_ she thought tiredly. She slowly fell asleep.

-o-

"Ayame!" shouted a voice. She was too tired to respond. She just wanted to get some sleep. She felt a hand on her shoulder shaking her. "Ayame, wake up! We've got a problem!" She opened one eye a little and saw Connor hovering over her shoulder, a look of panic on his face.

"What's the problem?" she asked as she rubbed her closed eye. She was answered when the ship suddenly shook as if it had been shot. Ayame was suddenly alert again. "What's going on?"

"We're in an asteroid field!" called Anthony from his seat. "We've got one coming in from the left! Drop the ship!" Ayame quickly did as told, shifting the blue sphere forward, making the Gunship fly down from where they were.

From that position, she could see just deep in trouble they were. The floating boulders were all at least as large as single-story houses. Some were even as huge as skyscrapers. Others were as big as Earth's moon. It would've been a fascinating sight if not for the fact that any one of those oversized rocks could crush them in an instant.

"Hang on!" Ayame shouted to the others as she steered the ship out of the way of another asteroid. "Gear, can you trace a way out of here?"

"Of course I can," the AI replied. "I'll just need a minute. Try not to get us killed until then."

"That's reassuring," Anthony deadpanned. The ship kept heading forward, dodging every space rock that threatened to make them go boom.

Ayame's brow became drenched with sweat. Did Samus ever have to deal with stuff like this? She steered away from yet another asteroid hurtling toward them. She cursed aloud. "Come on, Gear! Hurry it up, will you!?"

"Bossy, aren't we?" Gear replied snidely. "I've got a route planned out for us. Veer right, then left, then do a loop-de-loop, then head up, dip down, and then-"

"STOP JOKING!" Ayame shouted at the AI, who chuckled. Ayame rolled her eyes… which then widened when she spotted something. "Um… guys?"

"What is it?" Connor asked as he gripped his seat's armrests nervously. Ayame pointed toward the ship's windshield. Both Connor and Anthony looked. Connor's eyes widened comically. Anthony gawked at the sight. Under his breath, Connor muttered, "We're doomed."

Just ahead of them was the biggest asteroid any person had ever laid eyes on. It was nearly twice the size of Earth's moon. It was heading right for them. Ayame sighed. "We just can't catch a break, can we?"

"BLAST IT WITH MISSILES!" Gear shouted in suggestion.

"It's too big for that!" Anthony yelled. "We can't go around it either! We're gonna crash!"

The asteroid just kept coming, a slow, death-dealing boulder of destruction. Just as they were about ram into the massive rocks crater-dented form, the gigantic space rock was suddenly covered in explosions. The great boulder then cracked open and split into dozens of fragments, all of which floated harmlessly past the Gunship. Behind where the asteroid once was, was what looked like a large cargo ship, complete with huge containers on either side of the vessel.

Several pods were ejected from the ship, all of which went after the flying chunks of the massive asteroid. The three on board the Gunship let out breaths that none of them knew that they were holding. Ayame looked at the cargo ship with gratitude.

"Man," she said in a relieved tone. "If it wasn't for those guys, we would've been pancakes on that oversized rock."

"Ayame," Gear spoke up. "We've got a call coming in from that cargo ship. You gonna answer or should I?"

"Probably be best if I answer," Anthony said as he walked up to the communications table by the pilot's chair. He flipped a switch, activating a comm-link. "This Anthony Higgs answering your call. Who am I speaking to right now?"

"Don Buck," replied a man with American southwestern accent. "Cap'n of the mining cargo ship _Blue Phoenix_. Y'all're lucky we blew up that rock when we did, otherwise you'd flatter than a flapjack!"

"We owe you big time, captain," Anthony said back with an amused smile on his face. "Thanks a ton."

"No problem at all!" Buck said cheerfully. "Say, y'all hungry? Dudn't look like that ship 'o yours can hold a lot 'o supplies. How 'bout ya join us for good ol' fashioned southern cookin'? We got plenty to go around!"

"I… don't think that'll be necessary."

"Nonsense! I insist! We'll show you some southern hospitality! Dudn't matter to us whether y'all're human or otherwise! Come onboard!"

Anthony sighed in defeat. He turned to Ayame and said, "You heard the man. I doubt he's going to take no for an answer."

"Besides," Connor threw in. "I could go for something to eat other than the dried food that we've been stuck with."

Ayame snickered a little. "I guess it couldn't hurt. I'm pretty hungry myself. Gear, find us a place to land on that cargo ship. You can rest your power cells when we get there."

"Finally," Gear groaned. "I've been waiting to be able to get some sleep."

"Computers can sleep?" Connor asked with a confused look.

"Let's get going before Buck changes his mind," Anthony recommended. Ayame nodded, and when Gear finally found a spot for them to land, she moved the ship to the specified area.

They got out one at a time, Ayame going first. She had to admit; the cargo ship was impressive, and in great condition to the point of being pristine. They had landed in the ship's docking bay, where a special energy barrier kept air inside and vacuum outside. There were a few pods onboard as well. They appeared to be modified shuttles for mining in space. They designs were brilliantly done. She would love to meet the person who came up with them. A crewmember came up to her as Anthony and Connor joined her.

"Welcome aboard the _Blue Phoenix_," he said in yet another country accent. "Boss Buck is waitin' for y'all on the bridge. Follow me."


	10. Chapter 9

Ayame walked with Connor and Anthony by her sides. She couldn't help but notice all the looks that she was getting the crewman of the ship. Some whistled and threw catcalls to her. Others just gave her a look that meant something around the lines of "meet me later." She wasn't exactly comfortable. Fortunately, nobody actually seemed too eager to try anything. They were all probably just joking around or something. They seemed like good enough people.

Soon, their guide stopped at a door and ushered them in. The door slid open as they approached, revealing the large room that served as the _Blue Phoenix_'s bridge. Almost immediately, they were approached by a tall, gangly man with stubble covering his chin. His chocolate brown eyes were bright, wild, and proud. His hair was almost blindingly red. He wore the standard outfit that announced his rank as the ship's captain.

"Don Buck," he introduced himself, sticking his hand out to Anthony. "Cap'n of the _Blue Phoenix_! Pleasure to meet you, fellas! You too, young lady!"

"Yeah, you, too," Anthony said as he shook Buck's hand. "Anthony Higgs, Galactic Federation, 7th Platoon." He motioned to Ayame and Connor. "This is Ayame Miyamoto, a bounty hunter-in-training, and Private Connor Mercer."

"9th Platoon, sir," Connor stated to Buck as he would a military officer.

"No need to be so formal with me, son," Buck said with a toothy grin. "Y'all can just call me Buck!"

"Excuse me," Ayame said, getting Buck's attention. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you guys doing out here?"

Buck grinned again. "I'm glad ya asked, little lady! We're here minin' the asteroids for dragonium!"

"Dragonium?"

"That's right. Dragonium is a rare mineral that's only found in asteroid fields. We risk our lives every day to get our hands on some. Big rocks like the one we saved y'all from are rich with the stuff."

"Why would you risk your lives for a few rocks?" Connor asked curiously.

Buck chuckled. "Y'see, boy, just one pound of dragonium can buy ya an entire city. A hundred pounds is enough to get ya a whole planet. That's how valuable it is. There's tons o' people who'd do just 'bout anythin' to get their hands on the stuff. It's our job to make sure it dudn't fall into the wrong hands."

"A hundred pounds can buy a _planet_!?" Ayame said in amazement. She could now see why these people would risk their lives to get the dragonium. "So those smaller ships that came out of this one; they're mining for dragonium right now?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Buck said with a broad, proud grin. "Those're specially customized transports remodeled for minin' in space." He went up to a console a pressed a small button. A hologram of one of the mining ships appeared. The shuttle bore a pair of arms that each ended with either a large scoop or a drill. At the shuttle's bow was what looked like a trough of some sort. "You can prob'ly tell what does what. The drill breaks through the rock, and the shovel picks up promising piles and drops 'em into the trough, where the rocks're then processed to draw out the dragonium. It's a good method, but the fuel efficiency could use some work."

Ayame studied the holographic diagram with a technician's eye. The design was almost perfect. Almost. She could still see a few minor flaws, but they were mostly stuff of little consequence. One imperfection, however, stood out the moment Buck mentioned poor fuel efficiency. "I think I see your problem, Buck."

"Hmm?" The tall man raised an eyebrow at her.

"The fuel rods are subpar for this kind of craft," Ayame said as she pointed out the small rods in the holographic craft's engine room. "Those are Model M-416 rods. They're designed for smaller, faster shuttles. You should consider getting Model T-51 rods. They'll allow not just for better fuel efficiency, but also double the shuttle's speed, thus increasing your chances of finding more dragonium in a standard day."

Buck looked at the teenage girl with his mouth agape. "That's the first time I ever met a woman who corrected me regardin' designs for ships. Any chance you could join my crew?"

"Oh, uh, sorry, but I've already got my hands full with… personal business." She got a curious look from the captain. She wasn't lying, but from that look in his eyes, he could tell that she wasn't telling the whole truth. He soon sighed.

"Well, that's too bad," he said in a disappointed tone. "Ah well. I'm sure there's plenty o' people out in the galaxy who'd be willin' to stick around." He then clapped his hands together. "Oh, yeah! I promised y'all a meal, didn't I? Supper should be ready soon. I'll take ya to the mess hall. Follow me!" Buck then turned and started walking. Ayame, Connor, and Anthony soon followed after him.

-o-

"Dinner," said a gruff, male voice. A tray slid under the small notch at the bottom of the cell door. Samus eyed the gray slop with distaste. This had been the only type of food that she had been allowed since she gave herself up. It had little to no flavor, and was probably lacking in nutrients as well. Regardless, she picked up the tray and set it on her lap. She picked up the dusty spoon on the tray and scooped some of the pale gunk into her mouth. She recoiled at the taste. "Bland as usual," she said as she forced the "food" down. "Good to know that you pirates appreciate consistency."

"Joke while you can, Hunter," the Space Pirate said with an annoyed tone. "You will soon face judgment."

"That reminds me," Samus said as she took a sip from a small glass of water. "Why don't you just kill me now and be done with it? I'm helpless right now. All you'd have to do is aim and shoot."

"As much as many of us would love to see your head roll, it is our policy to give a trial to all those who commit an offense against us. But you should not worry too much. In your case, the trial is merely a formality. Your execution is inevitable."

"Thank you. I'm oh, so comforted by your sincerity. I truly appreciate it."

The pirate growled and stomped away, muttering something about "insolent bounty hunters." Samus sighed as she forced herself to finish the flavorless gruel she had been given. When she was done eating, she slid the tray back under the notch and returned to the hard cot that served as her bed. Images of all her battles against the Space Pirates, and everything she had done up to this point, flashed through her mind. She couldn't think of a single thing to regret or rethink. She certainly didn't regret the decision to allow the pirates to take her prisoner.

When she thought about it though, there was one thing that made her shudder a little. _If the pirates don't kill me, Ayame probably will._

-o-

**Yet another late chapter. Sorry about that. Anyway, I've no school tomorrow, or for the next two (I think) weeks! Unless something big comes up, I'm sure I'll be able to return to my usual schedule! Here's hoping that the world doesn't blow up tomorrow! (this chapter was uploaded 12/20/2012)**


	11. Chapter 10

Ayame couldn't believe her eyes. The table that she and the others sat at was packed with food to the point that it almost overflowed. Everything looked delicious: barbeque ribs, grilled chicken, smoked salmon. The list went on and on. There was even Mexican food, sushi, and lobster! Her three favorite foods! She had a hard time choosing what to eat. Her appetite had never been very large, but right now, she was determined to fill up on as much as possible.

"Geez," she heard Connor say with an amazed whistle. "These guys go all out when it comes to their meals, don't they?"

"Considering the value of dragonium, it really shouldn't be that big a surprise," Anthony pointed out. he had already stacked his tray up high with an assortment of mouth-watering foods. "But you're right, kid. It really is quite a spread."

They heard the captain's laughter behind them. His own tray was piled with barbeque and fish. "Y'all eat as much as ya like! We got plenty to go 'round!"

Ayame grinned as she picked gathered as much as she could carry. At this point, she didn't even care what she got. Her hunger for something beyond freeze-dried food quickly got the better of her. When she had her food, she and the others joined Buck at the captain's table. There, they started eating. It was all Ayame could do to keep herself from forgetting her manners and just wolfing down everything. Still, she couldn't stop herself from eating faster than usual.

Buck laughed heartily as their meals disappeared. "Y'all musta been starvin' out there! I ain't seen nobody eat like you three since the last guy we picked up!"

"Last guy?" Ayame said as she licked some barbeque sauce off of her chin.

"That's right, little lady. We ran into an alien fella just yesterday. Poor guy was just about half starved. You shoulda seen him eat! He was like a livin' food dump! He even got into an eatin' contest with some o' my boys! Not one of 'em could beat 'im!"

"Could we meet this guy?" Anthony asked.

"I don't see why not," he stood up and went off to find their first guest. As they waited for him to return, the trio talked about who or what this first passenger could be. Connor and Anthony actually made bets about it. Soon, Buck returned, the guest following. "Here he is in all 'is glory!"

Ayame's eyes widened when she recognized the alien. "Garnak?"

The Gorast looked at her with wide eyes, showing clear surprise. "Miss Ayame?"

Buck looked between them with a raised eyebrow. "Y'already know each other? Talk about a small universe, huh?"

"Yeah," Ayame muttered in amazement at the huge coincidence. "Garnak, what are you doing here?"

"I could easily ask the same of you," he replied with squinty eyes. "But since you asked first, I suppose I shall answer. I am currently going through my Marg'nath."

"Marg'nath?" Connor asked. He had already been told about this Garnak guy. He was actually pretty eager to meet the dude.

"That is correct," Garnak said with a nod. He sat down with them. "Marg'nath is a rite of passage for my people. When a warrior-to-be comes of age, he is sent to explore all he can. It is a way for us to learn of various cultures and philosophies. It gives us a wider understanding of those around us, and teaches us how this world works. I came of age two days ago, and have been wandering the galaxy since."

"And we actually ended up meeting again," Ayame said with a light giggle. "Talk about unexpected."

"Yeah," Connor said with a smirk. "Didn't think I'd get to meet you." He put his hand out. "I'm Connor Mercer. I'm a friend of Ayame's." Garnak nodded and shook his hand, doing the same when Anthony introduced himself.

"It is an honor to meet the friends of Ayame," the Gorast said. "She risked her life for my people… as did Samus Aran." He said the last part quietly, as if in an attempt to spare Ayame the pain of losing her mother. It only barely worked. The girl hung her head and squeezed her hands into fists on her legs. Garnak realized his mistake a little too late. "I… I am sorry, Miss Ayame. I did not mean to bring up any distasteful memories."

"It's all right," she lied through her teeth. She got up and began to walk away. "I'm going to go take a look around. Is that okay?"

Buck nodded. "Don't be shy to ask for directions here. It's easy to get lost in this thing if ya dunno where your goin'." Ayame nodded and left.

"Nice going," Connor said with a little bit of bite in his tone. Garnak hung his head in slight shame. He hadn't meant to hurt his friend.

-o-

Ayame walked slowly down the hallway, with no destination in mind whatsoever. Garnak's words and struck her a little. They brought back the memories of that horrible day. The day her life had been destroyed. Again.

She soon found herself in a large hallway, which looked like it might've been the main hall of the ship. She figured that this would be the main place for crewmembers to relax and just hang out when their duties for the day were completed. She quickly spotted a bench with a large window above it off to her left and took a seat. She just needed a few minutes to sort out the whirlwind of thoughts in her head before she did anything else.

She thought of something: if they did find Samus, how would they save her? It's not like they could just waltz up to a Space Pirate and speak on Samus's behalf. The pirates weren't just galactic bandits; they were an entire military force! Ayame and her friends were three ordinary humans and a giant mosquito-man. The odds were WAY out of their favor. It was as though fate itself was against one Ayame Miyamoto-Aran.

"What do I do?" she mumbled to herself, not caring who heard. "What _can_ I do?"

"You _can't_ give up," said a voice she easily recognized. She turned to see Connor standing there before her. He took a seat next to her, and gave her a reassuring look. "I know that look on your face. You're ready to just quit, aren't you?"

"Well… I…" She couldn't think of anything to say. He had seen right through her. She really was thinking about giving up on this quest that was clearly going to end in inevitable failure. She clenched her fists over her legs again. Her eyes felt wet. "I just… I don't know what to do. There are so many ways that all of this can go wrong. So many ways that we could fail. I'm not like Samus. I'm no galactic hero! I've never been in true fight before! I…" She looked up at her friend, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm scared, Connor."

Connor just looked at her in shock. He had never seen Ayame cry before. That hopeless look on her face, the salty liquid pouring from her hazel eyes, the obvious desperation. It practically wasn't even Ayame anymore. He didn't know what to do or say. After several seconds of him being silent, Ayame just put her head on his shoulder, crying her eyes out.

Soon, Connor said, "Ayame…" He paused to think about what he was going to say. "I can't say that I can understand how you're feeling right now. And I can't help you deal with your emotions. It's not my place to try. But… as your friend, I also can't bear seeing you in such pain." Ayame looked up at him again. "Listen, Ayame; I'm no emotional counselor, and I can't really speak on another person's behalf, but… do you think _she_ would've given up if it was _your_ life that was in the balance?"

Ayame's eyes widened at his question. He had spoken the truth. Her heart was willing to surrender to the turmoil in her mind. She was ready to simply give up. But would Samus have given up? Ayame wiped the tears away from her eyes as best she could, and gave Connor sad but grateful smile. "You're right, Connor," she said with thanks in her eyes. "Samus would never have given up on me. And… I won't give up on her. Thank you, Connor." She leaned her head on his shoulder, that small smile still on her face.

Connor looked at his childhood friend with no surprise. Considering Ayame's current emotional status, she really needed a shoulder to lean on. He suddenly cleared his throat nervously, making Ayame look up at him once again. "Ayame… I… I kind of have to… tell you something."

"Really?" she asked curiously.

Connor gave her a look that was almost shy, a trait that was completely out of character for him. "Well, you see… we've known each other for a while now, right?" Ayame nodded affirmatively. Connor took a deep breath. "Well… I kind of… what I'm trying to say is… I-" Before he could finish, an explosion was hear, followed by the blaring of an alarm.

"Warning," blared a computerized voice throughout the ship. "Space Pirate warship within the area. Ship is under attack."

"Pirates?" Ayame said in shock. Forget meeting Garnak again; this was an example of a small universe! She immediately got up and made her way toward where the explosion was heard.

"Ayame?" Connor called to her. She stopped and looked over to him. "What are you doing?"

Ayame immediately answered with, "Those pirates might know where Samus is! Better yet, it could be the ship that Samus was taken aboard on! We can't pass up an opportunity like this!" With that, she took off.

Connor watched her with an amazed look on his face. She had been an emotional wreck not even thirty seconds ago, but now she was ready to fight to find her missing mother. Connor actually chuckled at that. _Women can be so fickle,_ he thought as he ran off to catch up to her.

-o-

**To all my female readers, I may need to apologize for Connor's last thought. In my experience, most women are fickle, and are usually hard to predict. If you don't take offense though, great! I would like to think that I didn't do something stupid that would hurt my readership.**


	12. Chapter 11

Garnak examined his situation carefully. He was surrounded by five or six Space Pirates, all of them ready to gut him. He took a device off of his belt and held it up. Immediately, a blade of red energy extended from the item. He went into a fighting stance as the pirates readied their own weapons.

Garnak moved first. He rushed toward the nearest pirate with greater speed than they had expected and slashed his foe clean in half. He then leaped up, dodging energy bolts from the pirates' rifles. He landed between two of them, and grabbed one, using him as a living shield against the other pirate's rifle shots. He shoved the dead pirate into the living one and pierced them both with his energy saber. He grabbed one of the rifles and shot the other three pirates without breaking a sweat. He stood there among the corpses he had just created for a few moments before sprinting off.

"Garnak!" called a girl's voice. The Gorast warrior-to-be stopped when he saw Ayame and Connor headed his way.

"Miss Ayame, Connor," he said in greeting. "We are surrounded by pirates. We need to go."

"No," Ayame said as she shook her head. "Not yet. I need to get on board that pirate ship. They might have info about where Samus is, or better yet, she might even be on board!"

"That is too dangerous!" Garnak warned. "I cannot allow you to go on that ship!"

"I'm going, Garnak," the young hunter-in-training stated in a tone of unwavering determination. "Don't try to stop me." With that, she and Connor ran off. Garnak looked at them with some amazement in his emerald eyes. He turned and looked in the direction that the docking bay was. He should just make a sprint for it and get to his ship. Then another thought occurred to him: he couldn't abandon his human friends. He cursed in his people's natural, chittering language and sprinted off.

-o-

Ayame and Connor had made it pretty close to where the ships were forcefully joined, but were now surrounded by Space Pirates that were ready to claw their faces off. The two humans were now back-to-back. "Hey, Connor?" Ayame asked.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't happen to bring a gun with you, did you?"

"Left it on the ship."

Ayame sighed in response. She was going to have to activate the Power Suit that Samus had left for her. "Stand back, Connor."

The young man gave her a slightly confused look before he noticed that her bright red suit was suddenly glowing. Within a matter of seconds, she was covered from head to toe in incredibly advanced powered armor. The helmet had a bright blue visor, and was red, like the shoulders and the top half of the torso, but the lower half of the torso was black as night, as with the thigh area of the armor suit. The lower legs were a bright red, as were both of the arms, the right of which had an Arm Cannon over it.

The pirates suddenly seemed to panic at the sight. They probably thought that Ayame was the feared Samus Aran for a minute, but they soon calmed down when they noticed the different color scheme. Some of them snarled and growled as Ayame prepared to fire. There was just one problem.

"Okay," Ayame said hesitantly. "How do I shoot this thing?" The pirates then roared and rushed at them. Ayame reacted purely on instinct and tightened her right hand into a fist within her Arm Cannon. The result was a rapid flurry of tiny golden suns randomly plowing into the aggressors, seven of which had been taken down by headshots and blows to the chest.

The surviving pirates, both the injured and the unharmed, stopped in their tracks and stared at the bodies of their fallen kin. Ayame stared in shock at what she had just done. She had just _killed_. All of a sudden, it didn't matter that they were Space Pirates. It didn't matter that she was only defending herself. The only thing that mattered was that she had _killed_ seven living creatures. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Seeing the corpses didn't help that feeling. As bile rose up from her stomach, she scrambled to get her helmet off, and barely succeeded as she fell to her knees and wretched on the spot.

"Ayame!" Connor said as he knelt next to her. He helped her up to her feet as she began mumbling about killing those pirates. The pirates that were still alive snarled at the pair of humans. Suddenly, gunfire interrupted them, bullets piercing their heads and other vital areas. Connor looked and saw Anthony Higgs with a heavy machine gun, the type of which he couldn't tell because it kept moving.

"Connor!" Anthony shouted. "Take Ayame and get to the ship now!"

Connor nodded and grabbed Ayame's helmet before he began leading her away. "I'm sorry, Ayame," he said sadly. "I don't think we'll be able to find out whether Samus was on that ship or not. We have to go."

"No…" Ayame said as she pulled away from her friend and attempted to steady herself. "I need to find Samus. I have to!"

"I know that," Connor assured her. "But we can't go over there with you like this. We have to go."

Before Ayame could respond, an explosion broke through the floor behind her. She would've fallen to her death if Connor hadn't gotten her hand and helped her regain stable footing. As she was about to thank him, a sadistic laugh reached her ears. Anthony had returned when that laughter was heard, and he seemed on edge.

"I was aiming for the girl," said a rough, metallic voice. "I guess aim's a little rusty." Soon, the trio faced a humanoid being clad in gunmetal gray powered armor with a bright orange, oval-shaped visor. A long, brown ponytail began from the top of its head and reached down to its waist. In its right hand, it held what looked like a grenade launcher of some sort.

"Well that just figures," Anthony muttered. "I guess we were going to run into you sooner or later."

"Mr. Higgs, who is that guy?" Ayame asked. "And what is he?"

"That's the Space Pirates' top mercenary, second only to Ridley," Anthony explained. "They call him Weavel."

-o-

**Well, I guess that's a good place to end this. Now, before anyone complains that Weavel's dead, please remember: this is a fanfiction. Besides, Weavel's awesome.**


	13. Chapter 12

They stood before the pirate mercenary, their weapons at the ready. Ayame had heard about this guy from Samus. Weavel was feared the galaxy over for his ruthlessness and frightening efficiency. If this guy was as good as his reputation made him out to be, they might be in some serious trouble.

Weavel chuckled darkly. "Well, ain't this a surprise? To be honest, I never thought I'd run into the Hunter's little pet. Ridley told me about you, little girl."

Ayame's eyes narrowed at the cyborg pirate. He seemed to know a lot more than he was letting on. "You're a Space Pirate. Would you happen to know where Samus is?"

Weavel laughed like he had just heard a joke. "Of course I do, human. But it's not like I'm going to just tell you where she is." He raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. An energy sword immediately appeared from his wrist. "Honestly, I'm just here to kill stuff."

Ayame glared at Weavel angrily. "I guess I'll just have to beat the answers out of you then."

"You can try, kid." Weavel charged with unprecedented speed toward the trio of humans, his energy sword ready to rip through flesh. Time seemed to slow down as the glowing blade came for Ayame's head. Her eyes widened in shock. There was no time to react. She was going to die.

WHAM!

Out of nowhere, a white and red blur slammed into the cyborg pirate, forcing him to the ground. Ayame, Connor, and Anthony stared wide-eyed at their savior.

"You shall not harm my comrades," said Garnak as he readied his own energy sword.

Weavel stood up and looked over at the Gorast. His helmet might've made his emotions impossible to discern, but he must've been slightly angered. He was close to killing something, but was slapped away by an overgrown cockroach. That was rather embarrassing to say the least.

"Garnak!" Ayame said with a welcoming and grateful smile.

"Didn't you say that you were trying to leave?" Connor pointed out.

"I did say that," Garnak replied somewhat regretfully. "But I could not simply leave you three here. I will stay and fight."

Weavel wished he could vomit. "Oh, gag me. You don't really think that you can beat me, do you, mosquito boy?"

"I shall," Garnak said with absolute determination. He faced Ayame and the others. "You go and board the pirate ship if you still feel the need. I will handle this." Connor and Anthony nodded, and Ayame reluctantly complied as well. The three headed off toward the pirate warship. Surprisingly, Weavel did nothing to stop them. "Why do you not go after them?"

"If they're going to the ship," Weavel explained, "then they're going to die anyway. Besides, I really feel like taking you head as a prize after you tackled me." Garnak glared at the pirate as they both readied their weapons. After several tense seconds, they charged.

-o-

Ayame, Connor, and Anthony finally arrived at one of the boarding pods. Since Ayame had the most technical know-how, Connor and Anthony stood guard at the entrance as Ayame made her way to the controls. There was a pirate militia soldier guarding the pilot's place. It was only too easy for Ayame to knock the pirate out with a good bash to the back of its head and make it to the controls.

She took one look at the layout of the control system and sweat-dropped. It was shockingly simple. A single steering mechanism, a speed shift that had a reverse function, and a screen for communications to the main warship, along with a few buttons for different actions, made up the entire control panel.

"Geez," Ayame muttered. "This was just lazy." It only took her a few seconds to figure out what did what. When she found something reminiscent to an intercom device, she turned it on. "Connor, Mr. Higgs, can you hear me?" She waited for a few moments before she got a response.

"Yeah, we hear you," Anthony's voice called back through the intercom. "What is it?"

"Mr. Higgs, do you think you can pilot the gunship over to the warship?"

"What? Why?"

"Because I don't think we'll be able to get to the warship and back in this thing. Can you do it?"

"I know the basics of how to work Samus's ship. I'll do what I can."

"Thanks, Mr. Higgs," Ayame said gratefully. "Connor can you come up here? I don't want you to get hurt if something happens down there."

"Be there soon," Connor replied.

With that done, Ayame cut off the intercom and took a deep breath. From what Samus had taught her about Space Pirate craft, the boarding pod that they were in right now was used to ram into enemy ships, not only allowing troops to board, but also significantly damaging the opposing force. However, this ship didn't come without its many flaws. For one, the hull could explode, exposing her and Connor to vacuum. Second, the pod might end up bouncing almost harmlessly off the hull of the pirate warship. It was no wonder these things earned the nickname "Space Coffin." But at this point, she couldn't think about what might go wrong. She needed to believe in what _will_ go right.

Then, out of nowhere, something tackled her from behind. She panicked as she struggled against whatever was on her back. She caught a quick glimpse of what had jumped on her, and saw that it was the militia pirate she had knocked out earlier. She was grateful for the armor that was currently encasing her body. If not for that, it probably would've killed her with all those whacks to the head that the pirate tried to give her.

She hurriedly reached over her back and grabbed the pirate by the back of his neck, then, with the enhanced strength given to her by her Power Suit, she managed to pull him off of her back and toss him into a wall. But he wasn't finished. The militia pirate quickly recovered started firing its assault weapon at her. Ayame quickly jumped out of the way of the pirate's fire, and instinctively launched a missile at the alien.

BOOM!

The pirate's head was destroyed by the explosive projectile, allowing Ayame a brief moment of respite. Soon, Connor arrived, looking frantic.

"I heard an explosion!" he said. "What happened in here?" Ayame just pointed at the headless pirate corpse, and Connor understood immediately. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said as she headed back to the control panel. "Hang on, Connor. These things are really crude, even by Space Pirate standards. It's going to be a bumpy ride." She flipped a switch that closed the boarding pod's entry, then set the shuttle to reverse. They slowly backed out of the mining cargo ship. When they were clear of the craft, Ayame turned their commandeered shuttle and made for the pirate warship. They were headed for their best clue to finding Samus.


	14. Chapter 13

Garnak slashed at Weavel's head, but the cyborg leapt back and attempting to thrust his blade into Garnak's torso. The Gorast warrior sidestepped and went for a sweep kick. Weavel jumped over the attack and slashed down when he landed, aiming to split his opponent in half. Garnak blocked the attack his beam sword, creating a loud hiss.

"You're not too bad," Weavel commented as he pressed down on Garnak's blade. "But that's not going to be good enough!" He lifted his wrist blade, catching the Gorast by surprise, then slashed sideways from the right.

Garnak ducked down just beneath the blade's swipe. He could feel the heat coming off the energy sword as it swung over him. If the weapon had been any closer, it would've sliced across his left eye and left a permanent scar. The Gorast warrior reached behind himself and used the momentum of his backwards fall to flip back up onto his feet, one foot ramming into Weavel's orange visor, cracking it.

The pirate made sounds like a mix between coughing and mechanical whines. He faced Garnak with what would've been a glare of pure outrage. "You stupid, overgrown bug!" he shouted angrily. "I'll kill you for that!"

"Have you not already been trying to kill me?" Garnak asked with the intention to taunt him. "You seem to lack certainty about what you are going to do."

"I know for a fact that I'll kill you!" Weavel roared as he charged at him, his blade ready to cleave the Gorast warrior in half. Garnak back-flipped away from the blow, but made no attempt to strike back.

"My people have a saying," he said solemnly. "'A warrior without purpose fights without a blade.' Without a reason to fight, you cannot overcome any of the obstacles that fate has set in your path for you."

"Shut up! I didn't need a reason to kill you at first, but you gave me one!" Weavel again charged. Garnak sighed in disappointment.

_His anger will destroy him,_ the Gorast thought as he slashed at the same time that the cyborg pirate did.

-o-

The Space Pirate warship was even bigger up close. With all the cannons all over that thing, she doubted the gunship would've been able to reach it without being blown to bits. Ayame found herself trembling for some unknown reason, and took a deep breath.

"Why aren't they firing on us?" Connor inquired.

"They probably think that we're with them," Ayame theorized. "We're in one of their boarding pods after all."

"But shouldn't they at least try to contact us? You know, to make sure we're not hostile?"

"Maybe they think that nobody's dumb enough to try and board a Space Pirate warship? Either that, or they're the dumb ones."

Connor laughed uneasily as they drew closer to the massive craft. "Yeah. I guess you have a point."

They approached an open area on the ship that they could assume was the hangar bay, and landed inside. Ayame opened the only exit out of the pod, and she and Connor headed out onto enemy territory. There didn't appear to be anyone in the hangar. In fact, they were the only ones there. The pod that they had commandeered was the only ship in sight. Ayame readied her Arm Cannon as Connor grabbed a pirate assault rifle, and the pair headed off.

-o-

A pair of militia pirates stood guard in the hall leading to the hangar bay. One of them sighed in boredom, tapping his foot impatiently. They had been standing there for five hours with nothing to do. they had hoped that they would be deployed for combat when they heard that there was going to be a raid on a mining vessel, but of course, they were still stuck where they were.

They both jumped when they heard the hangar door slowly hiss as it opened. But there wasn't anyone in there, right? They looked over at each other and nodded, readying their weapons for a possible attack. As soon as the door opened, they hesitated at what they saw: the Hunter with her Arm Cannon aimed right at them. Her armor had a different color scheme about it, but was the same general design.

"Gah!" one of them yelped in fear. "It's her!" He immediately turned and sprinted off, yelling those same two words as he fled for his life. The other pirate simply stood, frozen in place.

Ayame walked toward the pirate, her cannon still poised to fire, with Connor right behind her, also ready to shoot. "You," she said, making the pirate jump. "Tell us where you keep prisoners here, and I might just let you go."

The pirate nodded desperately and motioned nervously for them to follow. Neither of them once let their weapons turn away from the pirate.

-o-

Samus reclined on the cot in her cell, her mind wandering. She was more bored at the moment than apprehensive of the fact that she was to be executed. She was still aboard the warship, awaiting the arrival to wherever the pirates were taking her. Truth be told, the tension was slowly getting to her.

She sat up when she heard a noise a ways away from her cell. It sounded like someone was at the door.

-o-

The militia trooper stopped in front of a large door. "We are here," he said nervously as he glanced back at the weapons that were trained on him.

"Open the door," Ayame ordered him. The pirate then entered a brief code on a console next to the door.

-o-

She heard the doors hiss open at the end of the hallway. "Who's there?" she called.

-o-

The pirate stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. "You first," Connor said. The pirate nodded carefully and went ahead.

-o-

She heard a collection of footsteps heading for her cell. She got off of the cot and stood, awaiting the arrival of the newcomers. She didn't have to wait long.

-o-

Ayame stood, her eyes wide in shock. She sent a glare at the militia pirate. "You bastard!" she shouted. "You lied to us!"

The pirate simply chuckled darkly as all the other Space Pirates in the room turned and aimed their weapons at the pair of humans.

-o-

Samus's eyes narrowed at the trio of Pirate Commandos who stood before her cell. "Samus Aran," the middle one said, dark glee evident in his voice. "We have arrived."


	15. Chapter 14

Ayame took cover behind the wall that framed the door, Connor doing the same on the other side of the hall. Blasts from Space Pirate weapons blew through the threshold, turning it into a gate of death. Ayame saw Connor making signs with his hands. She recognized the signs as Federation sign language. _"Wait for an opening,"_ he said. Ayame nodded and waited for an opportune moment. She quickly noticed a gap in the firing rate. Some of the pirates must have been reloading.

She moved to fire into the crowd of pirates, hitting several before ducking back to avoid being shot herself. She saw Connor do the same, unloading bolts of energy from the pirate rifle that he had taken.

After another gap in the hostile fire, Ayame launched a missile into the enemy force, and held onto the firing trigger, allowing the missile launcher to charge up. Thankfully, Samus had allowed a Seeker function for Ayame's Arm Cannon. When another opening came, she quickly locked onto five targets, one of which being a barrel that contained Fuel Gel, and unleashed five missiles at once. The explosive killed four pirates, with the fifth missile colliding with the barrel, releasing a lethal inferno that killed ten other pirates.

"There's still so many!" Ayame shouted over the enemy shots.

"Just keep going!" Connor called back. "They're bound to thin out eventually!" He fired into their ranks, downing three or four pirates before taking cover again.

Suddenly, just as Ayame was considering using a Super Missile, the bolts stopped. The pirates had apparently ceased fire. She looked over at Connor, but he only shrugged, just as confused as she was. They both cautiously moved to see why they weren't shooting. The pirates' attention was no longer on them. They were instead focused on a large monitor that displayed the image of…

"Ridley…" Ayame muttered, a mix of anger and fear bubbling in her chest.

"My fellow pirates," Ridley announced. "In three days' time, we shall finally be rid of the greatest threat to our inevitable dominance. The dreaded Hunter Samus Aran is to be executed on our homeworld then!" The pirates in the ship cheered with loud growls and shouts while Ayame's face simply fell into a look of despair. "All Space Pirates are to return to the homeworld immediately, so that we may all witness this glorious event!" With that, the monitor went black, but the pirates continued cheering.

"That's not good," Connor muttered. He saw Ayame trembling somewhat, shaken by the news she had just heard. He couldn't see her face under the helmet of her armor, but he was certain that she must've been horrified. "Ayame, we can still save her. We-" Ayame mumbled something inaudible, interrupting her friend. "What?"

"I said…" She trailed off, her body still shaking. But it was not from despair, or fear. "I said… I'll kill them… all of them!" Without waiting for any kind of response, she unloaded random beams and missiles into the crowd of pirates, who seemed to just remember that the two humans were, only too late.

Ayame unleashed an untold amount of rage and hatred on those pirates, not even caring what Connor or anybody might think. The pirates tried to fire back, but Ayame leaped and dodged each shot. She landed atop one pirate and blasted its head off before using its body as shield, launching beams and missiles into the other Space Pirates, who seemed to be in a sudden panic.

She tossed aside the pirate corpse that she was using and rushed into the pirate horde, firing rapidly, and with frightening accuracy. She may have running on sheer anger, but she had never felt so focused, so determined to destroy an enemy. Adrenaline guided her, and she let it. Soon, only one pirate remained, the same pirate militia soldier that had led Ayame and Connor into the trap in the first place.

"Give us the coordinates to your homeworld, you filth," she said, her voice laden with rage. The militiaman trembled in fear, nodding out of sheer desire to preserve his own life. He quickly uploaded the coordinates from a nearby console and gave them to Ayame, who took them and downloaded them into her suit. She turned and left the pirate, Connor watching with a look of shock. As he followed her out, she suddenly turned and shot a blast from the Plasma Beam at the still-cowering pirate, who barely managed to release a shriek of terror before his life ended.

"Ayame!" Connor exclaimed at his friend, who seemed to ignore him. She just kept walking back toward the hangar bay. "Ayame, you didn't have to kill that one!"

"They all deserve worse," Ayame replied in a tone that didn't belong to her. Connor just stared at her as they made their way to the hangar. He could understand why she would be angry with the Space Pirates, but was she really so infuriated that she became this totally different person? The Ayame he knew was kind, smart, and gentle unless provoked. This wasn't her.

When they got to the hangar, a trio of pirates had been investigating the return of the boarding pod. Ayame quickly disposed of them. She put her left hand up to the side of her helmet and pressed a nearly invisible button. "Mr. Higgs, is the gunship ready?"

"Yeah," Anthony replied. "Gear's a bit miffed that it's not you piloting, but otherwise, everything's normal. Transmit your coordinates to me, and I'll pick you up."

"Done," Ayame stated with a nod as she uploaded their location to the Gear's memory.

As they waited for Anthony to arrive in the gunship, Connor said, "Ayame…" He got her attention. She took off her helmet, giving him a better view of her face. He gasped slightly at her expression. She wore a look that was a mix of anger and grief. Her eyes were reddened slightly, and a bit puffy. Had she been crying under that mask? "Ayame, I don't know what's going through your head right now, but you have to stop acting this way."

"What are talking about?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You're not you," Connor said firmly. "When we saw that transmission from that monster that you called Ridley, you started acting different from who you are."

"Of course I am," Ayame admitted. Her tone did nothing to reassure her friend. "If I'm going to save Samus, I can't show any mercy. I realize that now."

"But-!"

"Don't try to change my mind, Connor!" Ayame shouted at him. "You won't be able to." With that, she put her helmet back on and walked a few feet away from him.

_Ayame…_ Connor thought, looking and feeling dejected.

Eventually, the gunship came into sight, landing in the hangar. Ayame was the first to enter. Anthony moved to let her take her spot in the pilot's seat. Connor came in a second later and took a seat, his eyes never leaving Ayame, his expression somber and worried.

"Gear, set a course for these coordinates," Ayame ordered. Gear complied, and the ship lifted off. _I'm coming for you, Mom,_ Ayame thought as they took off sending, not even bothering to acknowledge a farewell sent by the victorious crew of the _Blue Phoenix_ mining ship. She soon sneered in anger. _And you ,too, Ridley. I'll make sure you regret ever meeting me._

-o-

**Wow. Ayame just got _really_ dark, didn't she? Man, I sometimes worry about myself. Anyway, see you later.**


	16. Chapter 15

Garnak sighed as he flew through space in his ship, searching for Ayame. His battle with Weavel had been a forced draw, as the pirates had apparently been called elsewhere. He didn't like that at all. He preferred it when things had a conclusive end to them. That was how all Gorast were raised to believe. There are no "draws" in battle. You either win or lose in a fight to the death. Simple as that. He was certain that tracking down Ayame and her compatriots would eventually lead him to Weavel, so that they could finish their duel.

He soon realized that he didn't have to wait too long, as he spotted a familiar orange shuttle soaring through space. He quickly made contact with the ship. "This is Garnak. Ayame? Do you hear me?"

"I hear you loud and clear, Garnak," Ayame replied. "What is it?"

"I wish only to accompany you in your mission to find Samus Aran," he said truthfully. "And besides, I now have business with the pirate called 'Weavel.'"

There were a few moments of silence. Garnak assumed that she was debating with her comrades about whether to include him on their personal mission. "All right," Ayame finally said. "There's strength in numbers. We're heading for the Pirate Homeworld. Just stay close to us."

"Very well." The Gorast warrior was actually somewhat thrilled and a little apprehensive at going to there of all places. But if that's where they had to go, then so be it.

-o-

"Ayame, are you sure about this?" Connor asked. He was still worried about his longtime friend. "You're including Garnak on a pretty dangerous mission."

"Like I said, Connor," Ayame replied calmly. "There's strength in numbers. Having him along will definitely help."

Connor frowned. Ayame's voice was her own, but her tone was someone else's. Someone colder, and less kind, like they were a living computer. Ayame had definitely changed since the incident on the warship. He looked over Anthony. Even he looked concerned.

-o-

"Well, lady, gentlemen, and freaky bug-man," Gear said, extending his communication to Garnak's ship, "here we are. That giant red orb of menacing death is the Space Pirate Homeworld. Death rays, enemy armies, and hordes of mutated monstrosities await. Gee, sounds swell, doesn't it?"

Ayame narrowed her eyes at the red planet that was the home of the Space Pirates. This was where her self-appointed mission would finally come to an end. She would save Samus, kill Ridley and as many other pirates as she could, and then leave this damned rock for good. She had Gear scan the planet for a secluded landing site where no one would find them, then marked the coordinates at an ideal spot near what appeared to be the main command center. That was most likely where the execution would be held for all those pirate bastards to see.

They managed to get through the area without trouble, though Gear did alert them to the acid rain that was pouring down from the planet's blood-red sky. Ayame couldn't hide her revulsion at the polluted look of the Pirate Homeworld. It was simply disgusting. How could the pirates care so little about their own home?

"It doesn't look like anyone's spotted us yet," Connor said as the two ships touched down. The metal walls and floors looked like they hadn't been maintained in some time. Rust was visible on just about everything.

"Welcome to tetanus paradise," Gear stated jokingly. "Sheesh, you'd think the pirates would take better care of their base. And don't get me started on the lack of security."

"They likely don't think anybody would be dumb enough to come here," Anthony theorized as they exited the ship. Garnak was already out waiting for them, with his energy sword already prepped and a collapsible rifle strapped to his back.

"Then we must be fools," the Gorast said as he walked up to join them. "But sometimes, fools can be the greatest asset in battle."

"Another Gorast proverb?" Ayame asked.

"No." With that, the group of four readied their weapons and armor and headed through the nearest door.

-o-

Samus was guided through the Space Pirate command center by the three commandos to a large chamber that resembled a court. There were nine high-ranking pirate officers sitting at what looked like a judge's chair that was lengthened to fit all of them. To the right of the center chair, Ridley sat with his tail swishing from side to side, a sadistic grin on his face. Samus assumed the pirate to Ridley's left must've been the highest ranking officer in the pirate military, as he was decked out in the most intricately designed armor she had seen from the pirates. He was definitely their leader.

"Samus Aran," the center pirate said with disgust and hate evident in his voice. "You have made yourself an enemy of the Space Pirates, and now face countless charges, the punishment for all being execution. We hereby find you guilty. You are to be executed by firing squad within the hour." He waved his hand dismissively. "Take her away."

The commandos then led Samus out of the room. She managed to get one last glare at Ridley, who waved his clawed hand as though saying goodbye to a dear friend. The bastard.

-o-

A single militia pirate sat at his post, completely bored out of his mind. He had wanted to watch Samus Aran's execution just as much as any other pirate, but his superiors had ordered him to stay and guard this area. Where no one ever comes by. Ever. The place was completely barren almost one hundred percent of the time. He groaned in frustration. Why did he have to stay in this worthless abandoned facility?

"My life is just terrible," he muttered.

"It's about to get much worse," said a female voice from far off to his right. The pirate immediately shot up from his seat, his weapon ready. He then froze when he saw something that bore a frightening resemblance to the Hunter's armor suit. It held its weapon aimed straight for his head, and had three companions similarly ready. The pirate immediately raised his arms in surrender.

"Ayame, he might be able to lead us to where the execution will take place," Anthony said as he approached the militia unit, never lowering his weapon form the pirate's head. "Think you can manage that, pal?" The pirate nodded furiously. "Then lead on."

Ayame took the lead of the group as the pirate led them to Samus. She was getting closer and closer. _Hold on just a little longer,_ she thought with what little hope remained in her heart. She ran a quick diagnostic of her suit to make sure she had everything she might need. She was fully stocked on missiles, bombs, and energy for her suit's shields. Good. She needed all of that in order succeed.

The pirate led them through the apparently abandoned facility. Everything was in disrepair, and the whole place looked like it was about to fall apart. "What happened here?" Ayame inquired, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"This facility was intended to act a research station," the pirate answered. "I do not know much about it, but I have heard that the intended research material somehow became hostile, so the entire facility was scrapped."

"Metroids again?" Anthony asked.

"I do not know," the pirate admitted. After that, none of them said anything as they continued down the path. None of them knew that there was another pair of eyes keeping them within sight.


	17. Chapter 16

The militia pirate had led them to a large, domed chamber, with a large pedestal in the center. A number of security drones were flying about, constantly scanning for any intruders. Ayame readied her Arm Cannon as Anthony and Connor checked their weapons' ammo. Garnak had his clawed hands on his energy sword and a small handgun that were hanging from his belt.

"This is where the execution is to take place," the pirate told them. "May I go now?"

"Unless you want one of us to kill you, no," Ayame stated bluntly. The pirate sighed in response.

"I thought as much."

They stood in a spot where the drones wouldn't find them and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. Minutes became hours. Ayame soon found herself becoming impatient as her foot began tapping against the metal floor. This was odd for her: she was normally a very patient person, a trait she had picked up from Samus after years of living under the bounty hunter's tutelage.

Connor didn't miss this. Even with all of her armor on, it was easy for him to see that she was under some extreme stress. He knew he could never comprehend what was going on through her mind at the moment. The woman who had raised her like her own daughter was about to be executed by the very group that had taken her real parents years ago. He could never truly understand what she was feeling. "Ayame…" he muttered to himself.

"Yes?" Ayame replied curiously.

"I… nothing. It's nothing." He turned away from her, not wanting to show his concern. Ayame had plenty to worry about already.

"Quiet!" the militia pirate said with a bony finger held up to his mouth. "I believe it is about to begin." The three humans and one Gorast looked up over their cover, and sure enough, swarms of pirates began marching into the chamber, surrounding the pedestal.

"There're so many," Connor said. "We're completely outnumbered a hundred to one."

"More like a thousand to two," Anthony stated. "This isn't gonna be easy."

Garnak nodded his agreement. "You humans have a phrase for this kind of situation. I believe it is 'we are screwed,' is it not?"

"Sheesh," said the voice of Gear in their communicators. "I thought I was a downer."

"Stay quiet, guys," Ayame instructed them. "We'll have to wait for a good time to strike. Gear, do you think you can make a distraction when I give the signal?"

"Sure," Gear replied. "I can blast them all with missiles and lasers and stuff."

"Then lock onto our coordinates and wait until I give the order."

"Roger that."

At that moment, a pair of large doors opened at the other side of the chamber. Ayame readied herself. "Stay prepped, everyone."

"What about me?" the pirate asked.

"You stay there, pirate," Garnak ordered.

The militiaman crossed his arms and huffed at the non-pirates. "My name is Ra'jik."

"Whatever," Ayame said. She kept an eye out, constantly observing the horde in front of her, watching for the right time to give the order.

-o-

Samus walked with a calm, collected look on her face, no fear evident in her eyes as she approached the execution stand. The Space Pirates had jeered at her, throwing insults and hatred at her. She took it in stride. All of that hatred form the pirates that she received simply meant that she had done quite a number on them, a fact that she was proud of. As she walked up the steps on the pedestal, one of the pirate generals began to read her "crimes" off of a list.

"Samus Aran, better known as the Hunter," he started, "you have been found guilty of 72,611 murders, destroying fifteen of our facilities, and even annihilating four planets. Have you any last words before you die for your crimes?"

"I'm surprised that you pirates can count past two," Samus stated with a smirk, earning her an uproar of anger. She then began serious once again. "Even if you do kill me, there's someone else you should fear. Someone who has the potential to be even more of threat to you all than me. You should never underestimate what a human being is capable of." After that, she was silent.

"Very well," the pirate general said as he raised his hand. A group of pirates armed with rifles readied their weapons.

Samus showed no fear. If this was to be her fate, then so be it. Her only regret would be leaving Ayame. _Forgive me,_ she thought. Just as the executioners were about to fire, however…

_BOOM!_

And explosion tore open the ceiling, letting Pirate Homeworld's acidic rain pour in. through the hole in the ceiling, Samus's gunship barreled in, launching missiles and energy blasts at the pirates, who had been caught completely unawares. This made Samus smirk again. "That's my girl," she said proudly.

-o-

"Go!" Ayame ordered to the others, leaving the militia pirate behind. She began blasting pirates left, right, and forward, with Anthony, Connor, and Garnak at her side. Garnak's blade pierced and slashed through bodies as he fired his handgun – which was launching small bolts of energy – into the crowd. Connor and Anthony's assault rifles roared with flashes of light from the barrels as they gunned down as many pirates as they could.

"I can't remember the last time I had this much fun!" Gear shouted to them as he continued his assault. "'Boom' go the missiles!"

"Remind me never to tick him off," Connor said.

"Noted," Ayame answered as she sprinted through the horde. After five seconds of sprinting straight towards the pedestal where Samus stood, her Speed Booster activated, sending her tearing through the pirates between her and her adoptive mother. She then crouched, sliding a few feet, then leaped forward with the Shinespark technique that came with the Speed booster. She landed just in front of Samus, who didn't even flinch.

Ayame quickly deactivated her armor and wrapped her arm around her mother. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said almost tearfully.

"I'm happy to see you, too," Samus said with a smile. "But I think we should hold off on the hugs until later."

"Right," Ayame agreed, releasing Samus, reactivating her armor, then destroying the bonds on Samus's wrists. "Come on! We have to go!"

Just as they were about to flee, however, a terrifyingly familiar screech-like roar filled the air, and a huge form crashed into the ground. "I don't think so," said the dark, sadistic tone of Ridley.


	18. Chapter 17

Garnak's blade hissed as it sliced clean through yet another pirate, while at the same time firing his pistol at several others. One pirate attempted to tackle him from behind, but the Gorast warrior back-flipped over the attacked while simultaneously cutting it straight down the middle, splitting the enemy in half. These opponents were pitiful compared to what he was expecting. He needed a real challenge.

Suddenly, a green sphere soared past his head, barely missing him. The orb exploded as soon as it hit the chest of a nearby pirate. Garnak turned to face his attacker. It was none other than Weavel, his weapon trained on the Gorast warrior.

"I've been waiting for you, cockroach," the cyborg pirate stated. "I want to end you myself." With that, he activated his energy sword, the orange blade hissing ominously as it appeared.

Garnak eyed the pirate warily before holstering his pistol and gripping his energy sword with both hands. "I would be lying if I said that I did not wish for a rematch as well," he admitted. "Our last bout was cut short."

Weavel chuckled. "Then this'll be the deciding round." That said, the two combatants charged.

-o-

Ridley sauntered towards Samus and Ayame, clearly confident in his own victory. Without her own Power Suit, Samus wouldn't be able to do much against the dragon. Ayame quickly materialized her armor, aiming her Arm Cannon at the pirate commander, who cocked his head in amusement. "You think I'm intimidated by you?" he asked with a laugh. "That's cute. Now kindly go and die in a gutter somewhere. Samus is the one I want, kid."

"If you want her," Ayame announced as she began charging her weapon, "then you'll just have to go through me!"

To this, Ridley laughed again. "Have it your way, brat." He stretched out his wings and released an ear-piercing roar as he lifted off into the air. He immediately began unleashing a series of fireballs, each exploding as they struck the ground. Ayame quickly took hold of Samus's hand leaped away, launching a volley of Seeker Missiles at their enemy. He simply breathed out a larger fireball, which enveloped the five missiles right before exploding. "You'll have to do better than that!"

Ayame cursed and pulled Samus along as she ran. "Where's your Power Suit?" she asked.

"The pirates have it locked up somewhere," Samus replied. "They were likely going to start researching its technology after they executed me."

"Well, then we're just going to have to delay that a little longer," Ayame said with a determined look. "Mr. Higgs? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah!" Anthony replied over their comm-link. "Did you get to Samus?"

"Yes! But we need to find her Power Suit! If the pirates master its technology, the whole galaxy could be in for a lot of trouble! I need you to keep their attention until Samus and I get back!"

"Got it!"

Samus had a genuinely surprised look on her face. "Anthony's here?"

Ayame nodded. "So are Connor and Garnak, one of the Gorast," she said as they came up to a large door. "I originally wanted to do this alone, but they wouldn't let me. Honestly… I'm thankful that they're here with me today."

Before Samus could say anything, she heard Ridley's roar as a fireball flew towards them. "Move!" she shouted as she tackled Ayame to the ground. The fireball collided with the door and blew the obstacle to pieces.

"Stay right where you are!" the dragon bellowed as he hovered in the air far above them. He was already charging up another attack. He unleashed a furious blast of fire at them. In response, Ayame charged a bolt and unleashed her attack. The colliding spheres exploded upon contact with each other.

"Samus, go!" Ayame shouted. "Get your suit! I'll hold him off!"

"No!" Samus retorted. "I'm not going to leave you with him again!"

"I'll be fine! Go get your armor, fast!" She didn't give Samus a chance to respond as she sprinted toward Ridley, her Arm Cannon at the ready. Samus watched with wide eyes as her adopted daughter rushed to face _her_ nemesis. She clenched her fists at her sides. She turned and dashed off out of the room to find her Power Suit.

Ridley slammed into the ground on his feet and stood to his full height, towering over just about everything in the massive chamber. He glared at Ayame with those vile, yellow-orange eyes of his. "I can't tell whether you're really brave or really stupid, kid," he admitted mockingly to the girl. She stood in front of him, not making any signs that she had acknowledged his statement. Ridley grinned evilly at her. "I can taste it already. Your blood is going to be delicious." He then charged at her on all fours, flames surrounding his mouth.

Ayame took a stance and aimed her weapon at the dragon. "Bring it, you overgrown iguana," she said as she began charging the Plasma Beam.

-o-

Samus ran down the empty halls of the research center that neighbored the execution chamber. Thanks to the "execution," there were no pirates to stop her from getting her equipment back. All she needed to do was find the room where they were keeping it, suit up, and then she could give her enemies the ass-beating that they deserve.

She turned a corner and continued down the hall until she came across a militia pirate, who panicked at the sight of her and seemingly forgot that he had a gun. He attacked with sloppy punches, and was quickly dealt with thanks to a lightning-fast roundhouse kick to his neck, snapping the bone there and killing him off instantly. Unfazed, Samus continued her trek.

Eventually, she came across a door with a sign next to it that read (in the pirate language of course) "Weapons Research." The door opened automatically when she approached, and she entered the room. The walls were lined with experimental weapons and armor, most not being of pirate origin. Computers on the walls ran constant simulations of how the different weapons worked, from electrocution and explosives, to complete disintegration. Samus immediately knew what she would have to do once she got her gear back.

She eventually discovered her armor in a stasis chamber across the room. She smirked and headed straight for it, but froze when she saw someone she had thought dead a long time ago. A man in dark blue and green armor stood leaning against the pod in which her armor was held, his face a single, green, vertical line.

"Long time, no see, Aran," said the dreaded bounty hunter known only as Sylux.


	19. Chapter 18

Samus simply stared in shock at the armored man standing before her. Was this real? Was she just seeing things? She prayed that she was, but she doubted it sincerely. "How and why are you here, Sylux?" she demanded, despite her lack of equipment, her eyes narrowed. Sylux's mask prevented her from reading his expression – if he had a face capable of making expressions that is.

She heard a very faint chuckle come from her rival. "Easy there, Sammy," he said in snide tone. Samus raised an eyebrow at the nickname that she only allowed a select few to call her by. "I'm not here to fight you. If anything, I'm here to help."

Samus nearly did a double take. "Excuse me, could you repeat that? I think I might've gone insane just now."

Sylux laughed again, more heartily this time. "That's funny, Aran," he said as he began typing on the console that was linked to the stasis tank that contained her gear. "I admit, I really do want nothing more than to kill you, but I want to do that when you're at your best. No fun ending someone's life unless they know for certain that there's nothing they could've done to stop the inevitable."

"Charming," Samus replied as the stasis tank opened and her armor automatically melded itself into the familiar token-like device. Sylux took it and tossed it to her. The moment she grabbed it, it lit up, and she was quickly covered from head to toe in her Power Suit. She stretched in it a little, making sure that the suit was in proper working order. She eyed Sylux. "You know, I'm about half willing to thank you for this."

Sylux waved his hand as he made for the exit. "No big deal, Aran," he said with an unreadable tone. "I'm just a nice guy." Just as he passed Samus, he came to a stop. "That girl's going to die if you keep her you know. You have too many enemies, including me. You'll have to let her go at some point."

Samus narrowed her eyes at this, but she didn't face him. "You don't know anything about Ayame," she said back. "She's stronger than you know."

Sylux was quiet for several moments. Samus could only assume that he was currently deep in thought. This was easily one of his more disturbing qualities. Whenever they were together, and not trying to kill each other, they would both go silent for seconds that felt more like hours, both thinking deeply about whatever subject was at hand. It was a trait that they had in common. And that's what made it so disturbing for her.

Eventually, the cyan-armored hunter made to leave the room. Just before leaving, however, he said, "I guess we'll see about that." With that said, he left, and the door closed behind him, leaving Samus to her thoughts. She sighed after several moments. She really hated that guy.

Samus shrugged off the meeting and hurried to rejoin Ayame. She had a feeling that her daughter was going to need help.

-o-

Weavel's blade very nearly sliced Garnak's head off. If not for his training, the Gorast warrior would've been killed. Garnak responded to the attack with a slash to the pirate's chest, which he evaded with relative ease. Their blades struck each other in a deadlock that was held for several seconds before they both leaped away from each other. They sprinted toward each other again and swung the weapons at one another, sparks of energy flying each time their beam swords made contact.

This was a stalemate, Garnak realized. Neither of them was gaining an upper hand over the other. And he slowly growing exhausted. He needed to find an opening to end this fight as soon as possible. Otherwise, he may wind up slipping somehow, and that would lead him to an early grave. He was fairly certain that Weavel might have been thinking the same thing, but it was impossible to tell through that mask of his. As he fought, Garnak tried to analyze his opponent, trying to find an opening of some kind that he could exploit. Soon enough, he found one.

He ducked a slash that would've decapitated him and swung his blade with as much strength as he could muster, cleaving right through Weavel's waist, cutting the pirate clean in half. Weavel's upper half landed on the ground with a heavy _thud_, and his legs fell after him. Garnak took this as a moment of respite. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, letting himself take some time to recover.

That was when he should've had his guard at its highest.

Weavel's legs suddenly shot up, the waist shifting into a turret, the barrel glowing green. Garnak barely had any time to react when the turret fired off a large green sphere that he sidestepped. The ball of green energy exploded once it made contact with a nearby wall. That was when he heard Weavel's laugh. He turned his head to see Weavel's upper body held up by his arms, his hands having changed into foot-like appendages.

"Surprised?" the pirate said with an amused tone. "So was everyone else I had ever fought. I'm a cyborg, you oversized cockroach! I'm the best there is in this whole damn army! You should feel honored that your head is gonna be on my wall!"

Garnak would've sneered if he had a human facial structure. "You are an abomination," he said with disgust evident in his voice. "No creature should be reduced to your level. Not even a Space Pirate."

Garnak had the feeling that Weavel might've been scowling. "You think I actually _wanted _this? I have that bitch Samus Aran to thank for this! She nearly destroyed me and left me for dead! The only parts of my body that were salvageable were my spine and brain! Now I can't actually do anything without my superiors threatening to shut off my life support! I'm a slave because of that human witch, and I'll be more than happy to see her dead!"

Garnak gave the cyborg a glare. He was a vengeful, spiteful shell of his former self. It was utterly… "Pitiful."

"What was that!?"

"I pity you, Weavel," Garnak explained. "You are consumed by hatred, and that has blinded you irreversibly. You are simply pathetic."

Weavel roared at that statement. He didn't say anything. He let his turret do the talking. It fired round after round of explosives, all of which Garnak was forced to dodge. The Gorast cursed at this. He had to find a way to reach Weavel's torso. The pirate had said that his brain and spine were still intact, so maybe he could finish the battle by severing his head somehow.

An idea formed in his mind. He quickly pulled out his handgun and aimed the best he could while running. As his own gun lined up with the barrel of Weavel's Half-Turret, he squeezed the trigger, releasing a green bolt of lethal energy that lodged itself right into the turret's gun. Almost immediately, the turret exploded, one of its ballistic shells having been hit within. The death machine turned pile of scrap clattered onto the ground each piece scattering apart as they landed. Weavel could only stare in shock at what had just happened.

"You…" he said with evident anger. His head turned to Garnak, who had the distinct feeling that he was being glared at hatefully. "I'LL YOU, YOU WORTHLESS BUG!" He charged at the Gorast as fast as he possibly could on his two arms and leaped at him, his energy sword ready to cleave through something.

Garnak simply sidestepped the attack and then stabbed Weavel's torso right through the side with his own sword. Weavel gasped in what could only have been pain, a clear sign that Garnak had hit the pirate's spine somewhere. Garnak eyed the pirate as he turned his head to face him. "As I said already," he began as he aimed his gun to the pirate's face. "You truly are pitiful. Forgive me for ending it this way, but you do not give me much choice."

Weavel made a sound like scoffing. "You'd be doing me a favor, roach-boy," he said.

And with that said, the Gorast warrior pulled the trigger. Weavel saw black.


End file.
